Warren, Hirono, Harris, Colleagues Blast Defense Secretary Esper Over DoD's Failure to Adequately Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic
Slow and Disjointed Response to Outbreak Has Put Servicemembers at Risk and Undermined Readiness and Morale
"Immediate and aggressive guidance - from the top - is necessary to protect the health, morale, and readiness of servicemembers and their families ... You can and must do better"
Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), along with Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressing grave concern with the Department of Defense's (DoD) failure to adequately respond to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Civilian leadership of the Department has failed to act sufficiently quickly, and has often prioritized readiness at the expense of the health of servicemembers and their families," the senators wrote. "This failure has adversely affected morale, and, despite the Department's best intentions, undermined readiness."
In their letter, the senators outlined DoD's slow and disjointed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put servicemembers at risk and undermined military readiness. The senators criticized Secretary Esper for his unwillingness or inability to issue clear, Department-wide guidance, which has forced the armed services and local commanders to respond to outbreaks on a case-by-case basis. While some commanders have recognized the seriousness of the pandemic and taken aggressive action to prevent the spread of the virus within their commands, others reacted differently or were possibly prevented from taking a more proactive approach. The senators cited the outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT as the most prominent example of these failures.
"Military families are expected to make remarkable sacrifices under ordinary circumstances, but this crisis is putting an enormous strain on the force-a strain made worse by your disjointed and installation-dependent approach to issuing guidance," the senators continued.
The senators also raised concerns about the DoD's continued deployment of active duty servicemembers to the southern border; recent comments by Secretary Esper that suggest a continued misunderstanding of the nature of and risks from COVID-19; and DoD's decision not to share installation-specific COVID-19 outbreak and infection information.
"Immediate and aggressive guidance - from the top - is necessary to protect the health, morale, and readiness of servicemembers and their families," the senators wrote. "You can and must do better and we hope that you will act quickly in this regard."
To address their concerns, the senators asked Secretary Esper to answer a series of questions about DoD's strategy for addressing the pandemic and requested a response to their inquiry by May 11, 2020.
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