Friends, 

We are working hard to mitigate the impact of the global health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19. This week, I’m continuing to coordinate with local, state, and federal leaders to ensure that Wyoming’s hospitals, ranchers, small businesses, and working families receive support during these turbulent times.

Earlier today, I spoke with Reece Monaco about Speaker Pelosi’s continued action to block necessary emergency aid for small businesses. We also talked about President Trump’s decision to pause funding for WHO, and why WHO is costing lives, not saving lives, when they do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. Listen to my whole interview with Reece here. 

I joined my House Armed Services Committee colleagues today to hear an update from U.S. Navy leaders on the service’s COVID-19 response efforts. I also participated in a call this morning with economists Art Laffer and Stephen Moore about how we can get our economy moving after we defeat the virus.  

Yesterday, I joined Senator Enzi and Senator Barrasso on a call with Department of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. We discussed a number of issues, including action to grant royalty and other regulatory relief for Wyoming’s energy producers and mining companies, support for our tribes, and tourism and our national parks.  

Finally, I was glad to join the Wyoming Business and Industry Federation on a call yesterday to discuss updates on the Paycheck Protection Program and other federal resources available for our small businesses impacted by the spread of coronavirus. 

How To Access Economic Impact Payments:

Many Americans and Wyoming residents have already received their Economic Impact Payment that was part of the CARES Act through Direct Deposit. 

For those that didn’t and are eligible for this money, please see the Get My Payment portal launched today by the IRS here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

Paycheck Protection Program Update:

The Paycheck Protection Program, included in the CARES Act, is helping save jobs and support American small businesses during the economic crisis created by the spread of the coronavirus. According to the Small Business Administration, as of Wednesday afternoon:

  • More than 1,300,000 loans have been approved for small businesses
  • Over 4,800 lenders have participated
  • 5,730 loans & over $700 million have been approved for Wyoming small businesses

For more information about businesses receiving assistance through the PPP, go to this page and continue to follow it for frequent updates: gop.gov/PPPworks

Wyoming small business owners, ranchers, farmers, non-profits, and religious organizations can find additional background about PPP loans here:

Democrats Continue To Block Aid For Small Businesses:

In a statement on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued to insist that they would block more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program – which is expected to run out today – in order to call for additional money for their other priorities.  

Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats have been playing political games since this crisis began and it is hurting small businesses. 

Now, Speaker Pelosi is refusing to approve more money for the Paycheck Protection Program unless other funding is included. The fact is that the PPP was developed across a bipartisan and bicameral basis. It is supported by both parties and is helping small businesses save jobs. If funding for the PPP runs dry then small businesses that need assistance to survive through this crisis could be left empty-handed.

More funds are needed for this program now.

  • The Washington Examiner: “‘Dump the partisan invective’: Liz Cheney fires back after Pelosi tells public to ignore Trump ‘lies'”

Supporting State, Local, And Tribal Governments:

In addition to funding for hospitals and health care providers included in the CARES Act, this legislation also established the Coronavirus Relief Fund which included aid for state, local, and tribal governments impacted by the spread of coronavirus. 

Secretary Mnuchin announced this week that the first tranche of funding will go out to these entities this week. The Treasury Department has launched a web portal to allow eligible state, local, and tribal governments to receive payments to help offset the costs of their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The web portal will fast-track the availability of funding to meet immediate cash flow needs for these entities, and the remaining balance of the payment amounts will be paid no later than April 24, 2020, according to the Treasury Department announcement. 

This aid is also on top of the emergency relief funding that has already been distributed to the states under the Stafford Act. 

President Trump Stops Funding For World Health Organization:

During a briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force last night, President Trump announced that the United States would be halting funding for the World Health Organization (WHO). The President said the funding would be paused while his Administration conducted a review to assess WHO’s, “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.” See more information about the announcement from the White House here. 

The President noted that while American taxpayers contribute between $400 and $500 million to the organization a year, China contributes roughly $40 million. Despite this, the President said that had WHO, “done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground, and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at a source with very little death.” He added that the organization’s, “reliance on China’s disclosures likely caused a 20-fold increase in cases worldwide.”

As I told Reece Monaco in an interview with him this morning, the World Health Organization is costing lives, not saving lives, when they do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. Listen to our full conversation here.

Medical Supplies:

At last night’s White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, President Trump announced the creation of the Dynamic Ventilator Reserve, a system designed to allow hospitals to lend ventilators to other hospitals when they need it. Within the past week, 20 top health systems have signed up for this program, representing over 4,000 ventilators.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced five new contracts this week for ventilator production under the Defense Production Act. This is in addition to two contracts announced earlier this month. The Department has now finalized contracts to supply 6,190 ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile by May 8, 29,510 new ventilators by June 1, and 137,431 new ventilators by the end of 2020. The President stressed last night that every American who has needed a ventilator has gotten a ventilator, and every American who has needed a hospital bed has gotten a hospital bed.

General Motors also announced yesterday that they had begun mass production of the Ventec Life Systems V+Pro critical care ventilator. More than 600 ventilators will be shipped this month, almost half of the 30,000-unit order will be filled by the end of June, and the full order will be completed by the end of August.

As of yesterday, FEMA’s Project Airbridge has completed 42 flights with an additional 57 scheduled that will bring crucial PPE to the United States for medical professionals.

In addition, approximately 3.4 million masks from the Department of Defense are in transit or have been delivered to states including, approximately 500,000 to Illinois; 1 million to Pennsylvania; 500,000 to West Virginia; 400,000 to New York City; and 1 million to Florida.

Coronavirus Testing Update: 

More than three million tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in the United States.

Earlier this week, a test developed by Rutgers University that uses saliva collection was granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA. President Trump said yesterday that these tests can be self-administered by patients in healthcare settings, which will reduce exposure for medical workers and save personal protective equipment.

This week, CMS, the Departments of Labor, and the Treasury Department issued guidance to ensure Americans with private health insurance have coverage of COVID-19 diagnostic testing and certain other related services, including antibody testing, at no cost.

Therapeutics And Vaccines:

The President said during the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Monday that the NIH, CDC, and FDA are currently working to validate several antibody tests that will be able to determine whether someone has already had the virus and potentially become immune to infection. He also shared that in recent days, his Administration has deployed 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine from the national stockpile. 

HHS also announced yesterday that it will collaborate with multiple non-governmental organizations on the development of convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin immunotherapies to treat COVID-19.

Please follow this newsletter and the coronavirus page on my website for continued updates about COVID-19 and how government is responding to protect both the country’s health and our economic security. 

Congresswoman Liz Cheney