WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Trump has selected members of Congress from both parties to serve on an advisory committee to help decide how and when the economy should reopen.
“The president and I don’t always agree on a lot of issues but int he middle of this kind of crisis I think I can add value,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).
Warner said he hopes Trump will heed the advice of others.
“I’m as anxious as anyone to get our economy reopen, to get people back to normal life, but boy we got to do it the right way,” he said.
Twenty-two million Americans filed for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks. Despite that, some fear returning to normal life too quickly will cause a wave of new coronavirus cases.
“If we send people back too soon and the virus spikes, Americans’ confidence in all of their leaders will dramatically diminish,” Warner said.
Economic experts say consumer confidence is directly linked to consumer spending and that is a critical factor in any economic recovery.
Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-SD) agreed the process must balance both economic and health interests.
“We can’t unfortunately just pick an arbitrary date and stick to that come hell or high water,” he said.
Democrats on the committee stressed that more widespread testing is necessary in order to determine when it’s safe for Americans to return to work.