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Law360 (August 27, 2020, 7:34 PM EDT ) Nine Senate Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have renewed their war of words with Defense Secretary Mark Esper over the Pentagon's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The senators, including three members of the Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Wednesday questioning whether Esper was sufficiently focused on protecting troops, citing a rise in military-connected cases during July as much of the country experienced a surge.
"We are pleased to see that the Department is taking some precautionary measures to address the spread of the virus, but are concerned that the Department is still not properly prioritizing the health and well-being of our servicemembers," the Democrats wrote.
The lawmakers cited news reports about coronavirus cases among U.S. troops in Japan and South Korea causing concerns for those allies, which each host tens of thousands of American military personnel. They also said the military reported a faster rise in cases in July than the overall U.S. population.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Defense reported about 36,000 COVID-19 cases and six deaths among the nation's approximately 1.3 million active-duty troops. Another 17,000 cases and 74 deaths were tallied among several million civilian employees, contractors and dependents of active-duty troops.
The Democrats took umbrage at the Pentagon's response to their initial April missive criticizing the department's pandemic response. They said officials ignored legitimate concerns, failed to answer questions and inappropriately claimed the Democrats were not respecting troops and other personnel involved in the pandemic response. They demanded specific answers to their questions, mostly about testing.
"Congress stands ready to support the Department, but we cannot do so if basic questions are not answered regarding DoD's response," the senators wrote. "In order to determine whether or not you are planning appropriately to limit further case growth and to maintain readiness and morale amidst the pandemic, we therefore ask — again — that you provide factual answers to the following questions."
In a May response to the Democrats' April letter, a senior Pentagon official did not directly address the questions but outlined the military's overall pandemic response.
The assistant secretary for legislative affairs, Robert R. Hood, said the details were addressed in daily updates and weekly briefings for lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He implied that Warren, the letter's lead author, had not attended those briefings.
"As you know the Department has been providing a daily electronic updates to Congress and weekly telebriefs to the members of the SASC for the last seven weeks, sharing our response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Hood wrote. "I encourage you join us on those calls, where we have already addressed many of the concerns raised by you and your colleagues."
The assistant secretary also accused the Democratic senators of using "inaccurate media reports that have been discredited, to unfairly portray the Department while we are in the middle of the COVID-19 fight."
Warren's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry Thursday about whether she or her staffers have attended those briefings. The defense secretary's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry Thursday about the senators' new letter.
The senators who signed the letter include many of the chamber's most liberal Democrats, as ranked by GovTrack. Three sit on the Armed Services Committee: Warren, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.
The other signers were Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
The senators' original April letter came after public outrage over the handling of an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The U.S. Navy secretary resigned that month after removing and harshly criticizing the aircraft carrier's commanding officer, whom the Navy said in June would not be reinstated because he "did not do enough, soon enough" to contain the outbreak.
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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