Coronavirus: Sen. Grassley Says Trump Admin Is ‘Doing Everything To Keep Americans Safe’

The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Chuck Grassley had a classified briefing Tuesday on the growing Coronavirus crisis with senior level government officials saying he’s confident President Donald Trump ‘is doing everything needed to keep Americans safe.”

Grassley’s oversight and investigations staff for the Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On February 4, he also received a classified briefing from the HHS Office of National Security (ONS) on the coronavirus and how to curtail the spread of the deadly virus.

Grassley noted in his Tuesday Tweet that if more funding is “needed then Congress will do its job under the constitution” to combat the growing crisis.

The White House is reportedly preparing to ask Congress for emergency funds to help the administration fight the outbreak of the coronavirus, which has infected almost 80,000 people around the world and accounted for more than 2,000 deaths.

The formal request may be around $1 billion, two individuals with knowledge of the matter told Politico.

In early February Grassley criticized China’s reluctance to share data saying it “makes it all the more important that U.S. federal agencies work together and allow for maximum access to information across the government.”

“The intelligence community is hard at work to protect Americans,” Grassley said. “It’s critical that their hard work not go to waste and that all federal health agencies have access to the information they need to do their jobs. Over-classification during a public health emergency could have deadly consequences. Federal health agencies must also have a seat at the table with the intelligence community when it makes decisions related to this issue.”