Trump Forms Task Force to Re-Open the Economy
Image Courtesy of Dallas Morning News
By Anna Harvey
As many states still remain on lockdown, with stay-at-home orders extending as far as June, President Donald Trump recently pulled together a bipartisan advisory task force of individuals who will advise the president on re-opening the economy. With concerns of a recession before the Presidential elections in November, Trump is eager to boost the economy and stabilize the financial markets.
The list of over 200 names that the White House released included individuals such as CEOs Tim Cook from Apple, Doug McMillon of Walmart, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. In addition to these business leaders, Trump included economic specialists and executives from financial, labor, energy, health care, defense, hospitality, retail, real estate, and sports sectors. While Trump’s senior advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were initially expected to be a part of the task force, Trump informed reporters that they would not be participating.
On Wednesday, April 15, Trump attempted to convene with task force officials via four separate phone call conferences. These phone conferences were designed to start a dialogue on how to improve the economy after the pandemic begins to recede. The conferences, however, were set up on short notice, and many executives were unable to join the call. For those who were able to join, a brief amount of time was allotted for several executives from successful companies to speak. Other officials whose businesses have been impacted by the virus, however, did not get a chance to speak.
This economic task force remains separate from the coronavirus task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence. While there may be some overlap between participants of the two task forces, the coronavirus task force is primarily composed of administration officials and doctors, who are assigned to address the public health crisis.
In addition to the coronavirus task force and the economic task force, the White House legislative affairs office contacted members of the House and Senate and notified them that they were selected for a congressional task force. This bipartisan congressional task force would focus on advising Trump as to when to reopen the country. While the congressional task force has not yet convened, Trump participated in an hour-long phone call with members of the House. During this phone call, he informed them that he would issue national “benchmarks” to help guide each state in their plans to reopen schools and businesses.
While Trump originally wanted to lift mitigation measures by May 1, in light of the recent formation of these task forces, he is now negotiating with governors’ state restrictions and stay-at-home orders. While the guidelines for reopening the economy are not mandatory for every state, the plan may help individuals to maintain good hygiene while helping the state to reopen in a phased approach.
