Pelosi Urges Trump to Implement the Defense Production Act to Help Facilitate Reopening of Schools

While President Donald Trump’s administration pushes schools to reopen in the Fall, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is calling on the president to ensure that schools have the necessary resources to reopen safely.

“If we’re going to do it, let’s give it its best shot and make a judgment if that’s good enough,” Pelosi said during an interview on MSNBC on Monday.

Additionally, Pelosi called on Trump to implement the Defense Production Act “so we have the PPE — the personal protective equipment — and we have the equipment for testing, and very importantly the equipment to get the results from the testing. It’s no use taking a test if you’re not going to get your results for a week later.”

Pelosi went on to argue that the Senate needs to pass the Democratically crafted HEROES Act to provide the resources for schools to open safely.

However, she claimed that Republicans do not want to pass that bill because “they don’t want to support the state and local” governments.

“Let’s show that we put children first and their education by putting the resources there. Because without the resources, we shouldn’t even be thinking about sending them back to school,” Pelosi added.

Watch the video below:

Her comments come as Trump has stated that he wants schools to be open in the Fall. 

During a discussion on reopening schools at the White House on July 7, Trump said, “We’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.”

In his push to reopen schools, Trump has