On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona argued that the administration can argue that the coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing crisis even after President Joe Biden declared the pandemic “over” because the current situation “doesn’t mean COVID is gone, it just means that we’re managing it better,” and “the economic impact of the pandemic is still real.”
Cardona said that the “plan is legal, based on the fact that it’s off of the pandemic and the economic impact that the pandemic caused.”
Co-host Poppy Harlow then asked, “What is the national emergency you are predicating this on?”
Cardona responded, “[A] once in a 100-year pandemic that shut down our country for some time, and, to me, that’s a national emergency. I can’t recall any other time as an educator where we had the impact on our schools, our businesses. Look, let’s face it, we have — the government has helped corporations in the past. We provided funding for small businesses to help them get back on their feet after this pandemic. Why is it that people are fighting it when we’re helping blue-collar Americans, veterans like the one you saw, get back on their feet?”
Harlow then played a clip of Biden saying that the pandemic is “over” and asked, “Can Biden tell the country the pandemic is over and then you guys argue before the justices today that this is a current, ongoing national crisis?”
Cardona answered, “Yes, we can, and I’ll tell you why. We’re pleased — and listen, as an educator, as a father, I’m glad our schools are resuming and things are — we’re managing better, it doesn’t mean COVID is gone, it just means that we’re managing it better, thanks, in large part, to the work of this administration to make sure vaccinations are available and testing is available to everyday — to everyone across the country. With that said, the economic impact of the pandemic is still real. When I travel the country and I talk to folks, they’re still reeling in from the economic impact. I mean, talk to anyone who’s struggling right now to pay their bills. This relief will allow them to get back on their feet a little bit quicker. And what we’re trying to do here, too, Poppy, is prevent defaults, prevent delinquencies that we know happen after emergencies or after pauses. We’re trying to help folks get back on their feet.”
In another interview on Tuesday with MSNBC, Cardona said the pandemic “was a national emergency that provided major economic instability in so many people.”
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