GOP Lawmakers Grill Michigan Governor in Covid Response Hearing

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden, took sharp questioning from Republicans Tuesday during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on governors’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic.

GOP members criticized Whitmer, a first-term Democrat, for failing to quickly spend money the state had received under the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, and for allowing elderly patients infected with Covid-19 to return to nursing homes. That practice has recently been discontinued in the state, and Whitmer and GOP leaders in the Michigan General Assembly continue to negotiate how best to spend more than $500 million in federal coronavirus relief aid, she said.

“There are 32 states withholding funds from local governments, and Governor Whitmer, I see that Michigan is one of those states,” U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R), of Michigan, said during the hearing that was held remotely. He then listed several states, including Ohio, Georgia, and Florida that have reopened economies faster than Michigan, and said those states shouldn’t be “expected to pick up our shortfall,” estimated at $6.2 billion.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D)

Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Whitmer shared the remote witness stand with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), but she was the only one subjected to tough questions from the House Committee on Energy & Commerce. Polis and Hutchinson mostly responded to questions about what support the federal government can provide as the states seek to monitor the virus while preparing for a potential rebound in the fall.

But Whitmer, who has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, was pressed by U.S. GOP Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia about why she delayed requesting a federal disaster declaration for her state. He also asked her to name any vendors who would back up her assertions that the state lost protective gear contracts to the federal government, and asked her to account for why the state had not provided more testing in nursing homes, which account for roughly 25% of the state’s 5,553 deaths.

“With all due respect I will not go toe to toe with you on every allegation you have alleged,” Whitmer responded. “Virus doesn’t stop at the state line and doesn’t stop at party line.”

Whitmer has said she’s talked with Biden staff about joining the ticket. Others Democrats being considered for vice president are New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Nevada U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and Florida U.S. Rep. Val Demings.