WASHINGTON — Tensions spilled over in a call between the coronavirus task force and Senate Democrats on Friday — one lawmaker telling Vice President Mike Pence: “I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life,” a Senate source told The Post.
The call was dominated by questions from Democrats on the government’s testing regime, an increasing concern as President Trump looks to reopen the economy with only 1 percent of the US population tested, the Democratic source said.
The administration failed to give a clear answer to the questions, with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer at one point telling them to stop dodging and start providing answers, the source said.
Independent Angus King of Maine eventually lost his patience, telling Pence and the task force that their failure to develop an adequate national testing regime was a “dereliction of duty.”
“I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life,” King said, according to the source.
President Trump on Thursday released guidelines for reopening the economy, allowing some states to resume business as soon as May 1.
But the guidelines also shouldered states with the responsibility of testing and screening for COVID-19, something many governors including Andrew Cuomo believe will be impossible without federal help.
On a call with the president on Thursday afternoon, many state leaders cautioned the federal government against reopening the economy when they were still facing shortages of testing kits.