The chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm and some of the vulnerable members he’s charged with re-electing are voicing support for a Republican-led mask mandate repeal bill.
This would set up a potential showdown with the White House, which recently issued a one-month extension on the federal mask mandate for public transit and airplanes.
The backing also illustrates how Democrats — especially those facing tough re-election fights — are trying to distance themselves from the pro-mask policies that defined their party for the past two years.
“I’m completely over mask mandates,” Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Axios. “I don’t think they make any sense anymore. I’m for whatever gets rid of mask mandates as quickly as possible.”
“I think you’re safer on an airplane than you are in a restaurant or at the gym, so I don’t know why we’re wearing masks in the air.”
Some medical experts say masking on public transit still helps reduce community transmission, especially at international crossroads like airports, Axios’ Erin Doherty reported.
The Senate voted 57-40 last week to pass a resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s public transit mask mandate after it was extended until April 18.
Eight Democrats voted for the resolution, including Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) — some of the most vulnerable incumbents this midterm cycle.
The others were Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), mostly centrists facing re-election in 2024.
Asked if the House will vote on the mask resolution, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, demurred. “I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
While the Senate is often a graveyard for liberal legislation, the same could be said of the House on measures rolling back pandemic restrictions.
A resolution to overturn a vaccine mandate on private businesses that passed the Senate in December with support from Manchin and Tester is currently languishing in the House.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office did not respond to questions about whether either resolution will be voted on.
In the House, some vulnerable lawmakers support the bill or think the Senate bill should get a fair look in the House.
“I would vote for that,” Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) told Axios. She argued that localities and airlines “can make that decision for themselves.”
“If, based on science, [airplanes are] just as safe as anywhere else, then we should be considering it,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
“People are ready and are armed with the information they need to protect themselves,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.). “I think we ought to consider it, the question is: when?”
The oBut other Democrats are leery of legislating on COVID-19 health precautions, after preaching for two years to follow science and with a new variant spreading through Europe.
“Eight of my colleagues came down with COVID in the last few days — it’s still around,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) told Axios.
“I think the House should stay out of issues of science, generally speaking,” he said.
“I think it should be based on what the CDC says,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last cycle.
I have accepted that it’s now the law of the jungle and every man for himself when it comes to the highly communicable COVID-19 virus. I will be wearing my N-95 whenever I am among strangers for the time being because I am part of a vulnerable population and I don’t feel like dying, which is coming soon enough. I know that most Americans could give a shit about that and I am not questioning it anymore.
And while I understand that the air is ostensibly cleaner on an airplane than it is in other places, I also know that the seats are so close together than I can often smell the fetid breath of someone sitting next to me so there’s little doubt in my mind that if they are unmasked and have COVID, there is a risk. So, I’ll be keeping my N-95 on as tight as possible for all the hours I’m sitting there and won’t be taking it off for any reason. I would hate to inconvenience anyone who doesn’t like to even wear a surgical mask on the plane. It’s all about them, I know.
I don’t know what is happening with the Democrats and the pandemic but it’s not good. It appears that they are also just throwing up their hands on pandemic preparedness and public health which is really scary. What if the vaccines don’t protect us from a new variant or a new virus?
The Republicans and certain Democrats sabotaged the $15 million appropriation for pandemic preparedness in the Omnibus budget bill that just passed. The Democratic negotiators had gotten the Republicans who didn’t want to fund it at all to compromise by allowing it to be funded with unspent money from the American rescue Act in certain states. Democrats from those states objected and that was that. It’s astonishing that anyone would object to this spending for any reason but that’s where we are.
So what’s next? A stand alone bill which will almost certainly be cut down to nearly nothing in the Senate or more likely filibustered. But here is what they’re trying:
Earlier this month, the Biden administration released the Pandemic Preparedness Plan that would, finally, stand up a sustained and centrally managed national effort to protect the country against future pandemics.
But like the Obama-era “pandemic playbook” before ilyt, this current plan won’t help the country if it’s left to sit on a shelf to gather dust. One in every 500 Americans has died from COVID-19. The overwhelming losses brought about by this pandemic should galvanize members of Congress to do everything in their power to prevent a global pandemic like COVID-19, or worse, from happening again. If not now, when?
If funded by Congress and implemented, this plan will deliver tangible national tools and capabilities that we need to save lives, jobs and money when we inevitably face future dangerous outbreaks. The pandemic defenses included in the plan are each important and indeed indispensable, such as a reliable ability to rapidly produce and distribute effective diagnostic tests, vaccines and therapeutics for unknown viral threats. Technologies to help detect and track the course of outbreaks with increased fidelity so that we can more effectively respond. A robust and technically equipped public health system to capably execute its leading role in protecting all of us, including vulnerable Americans, from dangerous diseases. A sufficient and dependable supply of effective masks and medical supplies, as well as cost-effective methods for improving indoor air quality to minimize unnecessary disruptions of school, religious services and workplaces.
Even amid the political entrenchment we’ve all witnessed during this pandemic, few would contest that these capabilities are the no-frills elements of a comprehensive pandemic defense.
When the United States has felt at risk in the past — whether by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union during the Cold War, 9/11 terrorists, or North Korean saber-rattling — our country has enjoyed the almost unparalleled ability to make the necessary investments in defense to keep Americans safe. Now is the time for Congress to provide the means necessary to similarly bolster our defenses against catastrophic pandemics. If not now, when?
In August, SARS CoV-2 became the number one cause of death in the U.S. It has claimed over 660,000 U.S. lives and it’s not done with us yet. Within days, the American death toll from COVID-19 will exceed the estimated 675,000 lives lost in the U.S. during the 1918 pandemic influenza. By the beginning of December, COVID-19 deaths could climb to over 750,000. And, on top of that, the economic toll on the nation is no less mind-boggling with an estimated loss of $16 trillion.
The administration’s price tag for its comprehensive preparedness plan is $65 billion over a decade. Compared to the $170 billion per year devoted to preventing terrorism or the $20 billion per year that the U.S. spends on missile defense, preparing to better weather a catastrophic pandemic (which we know will come for us again) is a downright bargain. The $65 billion investment would reduce the risk of not only naturally occurring pandemics, but also the risks posed by high-consequence laboratory accidents involving pandemic pathogens and maliciously deployed biological weapons. These investments will protect us.
The good news is that the United States is not starting from scratch. Thanks to the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act passed in 2006 and faithfully reauthorized since the country has the basic preparedness programs and structures in place that will serve as a solid foundation for the ambitious and integrated pandemic defense system set forth in the pandemic preparedness plan.
The administration has clearly indicated that $15 billion in the budget reconciliation bill would, for now, be an adequate down payment towards the $65 billion pandemic preparedness plan. We need the down payment. The House Energy and Commerce Committee agreed and they took the first vital step by including $16 billion for pandemic preparedness in their bill thanks to the leadership of Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). Recent public polling demonstrates that the American people expect nothing less.
The debate will move to the Senate, where a figure of only up to $8 billion for pandemic preparedness is being discussed in closed-door meetings. Over the past 18 months, Congress made much-needed emergency funding available for COVID-19 crisis response. Now Congress has an opportunity to be proactive and fund the defenses necessary to protect Americans from future pandemic threats by providing the seed money needed to start implementing the pandemic preparedness plan. If not now, when?
Securing $16 billion for pandemic preparedness in the Senate budget reconciliation package would demonstrate that Congress understands the pandemic threat we’re facing and the ones in our future and is prepared to bring American ingenuity and resources to bear to meaningfully reduce the threat, if not eliminate it altogether.
Yeah, ok. Let’s hope it happens. But at this point I think everyone should get ready and put their hopes on boosters, easily obtainable N-95s, test-to-treat with Paxlovid (which is also hitting a funding wall, if you can believe that) and Hepa filters. I suggest you stock up on what you can. Anyone in a vulnerable population or who is close to someone who is, should also assume that they are going to be forced to curtail their activities, sometimes extremely, when the inevitable surges happen (although even healthy people are getting long-COVID and it can be very disabling, so those populations are going to grow.) Most people have decided they just don’t care if they expose you to this deadly disease or if the hospitals and morgues fill up with their fellow Americans. Godspeed.
By the way, we have lost almost a million people in the last two years, almost 1900 just yesterday. Just saying.