Post Politics Now: Biden to deliver climate ultimatum; House panel to weigh assault weapons ban
Today, President Biden is traveling to Somerset, Mass., where he is expected to deliver an ultimatum to Congress on climate change: take action or he’ll move forward on his own. It’s a risky move for a president whose environmental agenda is stalled in Congress. In Washington, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to advance legislation that would ban assault weapons for the first time in nearly two decades. While the move will make a statement, the bill stands little chance in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, is set to address Congress on Wednesday as part of a high-profile trip to Washington. She is expected to speak about the conditions in her country as Russia’s war approaches its sixth month. Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed Zelenska to the White House on Tuesday.
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This just in: Key Senate Democrat criticizes nation’s monkeypox response
The Senate’s committee chairwoman overseeing health criticized the nation’s response to monkeypox on Wednesday and called on the Biden administration to explain its plan to combat the record outbreak.
“As I have raised on multiple calls with the Administration, I am concerned with the state of the U.S. response to monkeypox,” wrote Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and shared with The Washington Post.
Murray, the chair of the Senate’s health panel, cited reports from The Post and other outlets about patients’ and physicians’ struggles to obtain monkeypox testing, treatment and vaccines. More than 2,100 cases of monkeypox — a disease that spreads by close contact and can cause severe pain and complications — have been confirmed in the United States, according to federal data. No deaths have been linked to the outbreak, which has predominantly been found in the gay and bisexual communities.
“The spread of monkeypox is a reminder that our work to protect families and strengthen our preparedness and response system is far from complete and cannot end with the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote Murray, asking Biden officials for an urgent update on their strategy.
Murray is the latest official to question the administration’s response, as the record outbreak worsens.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the top Republican on the Senate health panel, last week decried “egregious failures” in containing the virus, which was historically concentrated in West and Central Africa before spreading to more countries this year. Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the virus is “at the cusp” of becoming permanently entrenched in the United States and called on Congress to overhaul the nation’s pandemic response.
Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other Biden officials have defended their response.
“It is possible to significantly decrease the number of cases and contain the current monkeypox outbreak through education and increased testing and access to vaccines — all priorities we’ve made dramatic progress on,” Walensky told CNN on Monday.
