White House corona task force could shut down by early June, Pence announces

The vice president told reporters at a White House briefing that the U.S. could be “in a very different place” by late May and early June.

By Associated Press

Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that the White House coronavirus task force could wind down its work by early June.

Pence said the administration is beginning to eye the Memorial Day to early June window as the appropriate time to have federal agencies manage the pandemic response in a more traditional way.

According to an Associated Press analysis, infection rates are still rising as states start to lift their lockdowns.

The vice president characterized the discussions as preliminary.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force coordinator, said the federal government will still keep a close eye on the data when if the task force disbands.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Donald Trump commented, “The people of our country should think of themselves as warriors. Our country has to open.”

Trump spoke to reporters Tuesday before boarding Air Force One for a trip to Phoenix to tour a Honeywell plant that’s making N95 respirator masks.

Trump’s trip arrives as states begin to reopen after shutting down in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

The president has stayed close to the White House since mid-March, when he declared a national emergency over the outbreak. He traveled to Virginia at the end of March to see a Navy hospital shift off to New York, and he spent this past weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Meanwhile, two U.S. senators proposed to amend federal legislation to temporarily assume that first responders who contracted the coronavirus within 45 days of their last shift were infected during work and are eligible for death benefits.

The federal Public Safety Officers Benefits Program provides death benefits to the survivors who die in the line of duty or as a result of a work-related incident. The program now requires evidence that shows the death was caused by an infectious disease related to work — a difficult determination with the coronavirus amid a pandemic.

The legislation was proposed by senators Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, and Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey.

Federal death benefits include a one-time payment of $359,316 and/or education assistance of $1,224 a month to survivors.

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