House Speaker Weekly Briefing

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) held her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill to discuss the legislative response to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaker Pelosi sharply criticized her Republican colleagues for referring to money for hospitals and testing in the relief bill passed by the House the previous day as “extracurricular stuff.” She said “the Republicans reject science and reject governance,” and added that any future CARES Act legislation would include money for state and local governments. The speaker also commented on the president’s suggestion the day before that injecting disinfectants could be researched as a treatment for COVID-19. “Clearly and sadly, this president is not listening to medical experts,” she said. Speaker Pelosi also called the allegations made by Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a “devastating charge” and said that House Energy Subcommittee on Health Chair Anna Eshoo (D-CA) would be close