Sen. Elizabeth Warren said it might take years for the historically high unemployment rates to return to pre-pandemic levels under the leadership of President Trump.
The unemployment data for April was released on Friday, showing that the United States had shed 20.5 million additional jobs for an unemployment rate of 14.5%. Unemployment rates have not been this high since the Great Depression. In a series of tweets, Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the current situation a “moral failure” on behalf of the Trump administration.
“More than 30 million people are out of work. Economists are comparing our unemployment rate to the Great Depression. And Trump & his GOP allies still don’t have a plan to get us out of this economic disaster,” Warren wrote. “This is a policy failure – and this is a moral failure.”
More than 30 million people are out of work. Economists are comparing our unemployment rate to the Great Depression. And Trump & his GOP allies still don’t have a plan to get us out of this economic disaster. This is a policy failure – and this is a moral failure.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 8, 2020
She said that Trump’s call for businesses to reopen as soon as possible could extend the time it took the economy to recover because of the additional people who could become ill.
“Trump wants to close his eyes & pretend that sending people back to work right now will magically solve all our problems. But every day that he refuses to lead on the public health crisis killing thousands of Americans daily is adding years to our economic recovery,” she wrote.
She said that the economy could not reopen until testing was widely available and the nation was prepared to do contact tracing for any person who may have infected others after testing positive. She said these two features were essential for employees to be able to “work without exposing more people to this deadly virus.”
Our economy will not fully recover from this pandemic until we can dramatically increase our COVID-19 testing capacity & stand up a nationwide contact tracing program so people can go to work without exposing more people to this deadly virus.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 8, 2020
Warren accused the Trump administration of tailoring the coronavirus relief policies, which passed the House and Senate, to benefit large corporations rather than small businesses and families.
“And our economy will not fully recover until this administration prioritizes getting real support into the hands of struggling families & resources into the hands of health workers, not funneling relief checks & contracts to the wealthy & well-connected,” she wrote.
She hinted that the economic downturn could be an opportunity to implement policies similar to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, writing: “Coming out of the Great Depression, America invested in building a middle class. We can do it again & do it right this time by not leaving people of color behind. But first we need real leadership for this public health & economic crisis.”
Coming out of the Great Depression, America invested in building a middle class. We can do it again & do it right this time by not leaving people of color behind. But first we need real leadership for this public health & economic crisis.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 8, 2020
In 2010, Warren was appointed by President Barack Obama to help reform Wall Street by building out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during his economic recovery efforts following the 2009 recession. She was also appointed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to a committee that oversaw the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which is sometimes referred to as the “bank bailout” in 2008.
The economic recovery from the 2009 recession was the slowest economic recovery since World War II.
Warren endorsed Joe Biden for president more than a month after dropping out of the race. She has been floated as a potential running mate for Biden.
