Top Democrats say Trump administration has 'failed to disburse' nearly $14 billion in testing and contact tracing funds, which were approved by Congress back in April

Associated Press

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Patty Murray claimed the Trump administration has been sitting on nearly $14 billion designated to fund coronavirus testing and contact tracing.
• Schumer and Murray penned a letter Sunday to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, demanding action be taken in distributing the funds, which were part of the coronavirus package that Congress approved back in April.
• According to a statement from the top Democrats, the Trump administration has "still failed" to distribute $8 billion of the funds, while the CDC has not used nearly $6 billion designated to fund contact tracing efforts and provide free testing to those who are uninsured.
• The letter came after Trump's remarks about testing at a campaign rally Saturday, in which the president called testing a "double-edged sword" and claimed he told his staff to "slow down" testing. A White House official later claimed the president was joking.
• At least six states saw record single-day increases since the pandemic began, and experts have reiterated that testing and contact tracing are the key to safe reopening.
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Top Democratic senators accused the Trump administration of sitting on nearly $14 billion in funds for testing and contact tracing months after it was initially appropriated in April.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Patty Murray penned a letter Sunday to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar regarding the funds, which were part of the $25 billion designated back in April to fund testing and contact tracing.

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