Q: How will the Biden Administration deal with COVID-19 differently than the Trump Administration?
A: “The Biden Administration will have a dedication to science and public health advice that follows the data in dealing with COVID-19.”
Senator Maggie Hassan discusses recent negotiations in Congress for another round of COVID-19 stimulus spending; evaluates Governor Sununu’s management of the pandemic; assesses how the next round of stimulus spending will differ from the CARES-Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; explains why the COVID vaccines will be safe; and reports on how the Biden administration will deal with the COVID pandemic.
Despite a plethora of needs due to the many economic effects of the pandemic, the Senator states that Congress is only working on hammering out a general framework which is designed to get the country through the next three months. There is bipartisan support for a targeted relief package to help small businesses. As this session of Congress is wrapping up, the Senators are working against the clock to agree on an overall spending plan for the next fiscal year and to pass the National Defense Authorization before the end of the year.
Senator Hassan was extremely reluctant to criticize Governor Sununu’s performance in dealing with the COVID pandemic. She repeatedly called for everyone to work together to stem the spread of the Coronavirus.
The CARES Act was passed quickly during a crisis, and the Senator believes that our lawmakers will try to shore up some of the problems from the first stimulus package. Senator Hassan also expects that new spending will coincide with the plans of the incoming Biden administration.
Like everyone else, Senator Hassan is looking forward to the end of the COVID pandemic. Although the vaccines were developed at warp speed, the Senator is confident that the pharmaceutical companies which created and manufactured them and the FDA-Food and Drug Administration which approved them, are following the same protocols which have been used in the past. For that reason, Senator Hassan affirms to the public that the vaccines will be safe.
In the final segment of the interview, Senator Hassan discusses her contact with the Biden team. She feels that the incoming administration will have a dedication to science and public health advice that follows the data in dealing with COVID-19.
