Coronavirus Roundup: Trump Directs Agencies to Purchase Drugs Domestically; Democrats Seek More Transparency on Federal Prisons’ Coronavirus Cases

The U.S. economy gained 1.8 million jobs in July, which marks the third straight month of growth; however, the economy is still down about 13 million jobs amid the pandemic-induced recession. According to the Labor Department’s report released on Friday morning, there was a 27,000 gain of federal government jobs in July, which it attributed to the hiring of temporary census workers. Here are some other recent headlines you might have missed. 

President Trump said on Thursday the White House is working on a series of executive orders on eviction protections, payroll tax cuts, unemployment extensions and student loan repayment options as Congress has yet to reach a deal on the next stimulus package. 

Separately, Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that directs federal agencies to purchase “essential” drugs from American manufacturers, so the country can reduce its reliance on foreign countries. “Under this order, agencies will have the necessary flexibility to increase their domestic procurement in appropriate and responsible ways, while protecting our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families from increases in drug prices and without interfering with our nation’s ability to respond to the spread of COVID-19,” said the order. 

On Thursday, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, asked the acting Health and Human Services inspector general to look into the administration's recent $646 million contract to Philips Respironics for ventilators. His committee recently reported that the administration “effectively disabled an Obama-era contract with” the company “and then struck a second contract with the company in which the administration overpaid for nearly identical ventilators by as much as $500 million.”

Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote to HHS and the Defense Department on Thursday asking that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lead the distribution of a potential coronavirus vaccine, after the news last week that Defense would be helping with the logistics. They wrote that the CDC has been doing this for decades and the administration must not sideline public health officials, Politico reported on Friday. 

A group of bicameral Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday that would increase transparency of coronavirus data at federal and state correctional facilities. “At the federal level, the [Federal Bureau of Prisons] posts daily COVID-19 updates on its website but excludes important information, such as hospitalization numbers, and does not disaggregate data based on demographic categories,” said the lawmakers. Also, “The [U.S. Marshals Services] provides no data on its website on COVID-19 cases for individuals in its custody.” The prison system has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. 

The American Civil Liberties Union announced on Thursday it submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to recent executions and the potential impact of spreading coronavirus from them. Last month, the federal government resumed executions for federal crimes after 17 years. “Carrying out three executions in four days during a deadly pandemic wasn’t just dangerous and gruesome, it was also costly,” said Cassandra Stubbs, director of ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. “People around the country are suffering and urgently in need of aid; the public is entitled to know how much of our federal tax money was spent to carry out these executions — which also put so many more lives at risk.” 

On Thursday, the State Department lifted its global travel advisory after five months and reverted back to country-specific advisories. The department said it consulted with the CDC on this decision, USA Today reported. 

The State Department also updated information on the resumption of its passport operations on Thursday. Six passport agencies and centers are in phase two and 12 are in phase one of reopening, as of Monday. Since July 16, the State Department has been increasingly making progress on reducing its backlog of passport applications and issuances. 

The White House announced on Friday that it will now provide 100% cost sharing for coronavirus National Guard deployments in Arizona, Connecticut and California. On Monday, it said that it will require all states (except for Florida and Texas) to cover 25% of the costs.

The federal government allowed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s former industry client to pause oil drilling operations at at least 51 sites, as oil and gas prices hit historic lows during the pandemic. The Bureau of Land Management, a division of the Interior Department, “granted other lease suspensions during that period, but the ones approved for Samson accounted for about one-eighth of the total amount,” The Hill reported on Friday. The department denied it gave any special treatment to lease applicants. Separately, the company received a Paycheck Protection Program loan between $1 million and $2 million, the report noted.

The congressional oversight commission, established by the CARES Act, held its first hearing on Friday morning. “I’m glad to see that even without a chair, the commission has begun holding hearings to conduct needed oversight of the Treasury and Federal Reserve’s lending facilities,” Tim Stretton, policy analyst at the watchdog Project on Government Oversight, told Government Executive. “In particular, I’m pleased [the] commissioners were interested in and asked important questions about how long it took to set up the Main Street Lending Facility, the low participation rate and apparent lack of interest from businesses, as well as changes that seemed to have been made to specifically benefit the oil and gas industry.” 

As of July 22, the Architect of the Capitol obligated $24,852,000 (99%) of its appropriated CARES Act funds, according to an IG report earlier this week. The majority of the funds went to personal protective equipment for on-site staff. 

Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.