Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote Secretary of Defense Mark Esper a letter about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic thus far. The letter is signed by ten Democratic senators total and -- in short -- they are displeased.
"We write to express our grave concern regarding the Department of Defense’s failure to adequately respond to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic," the letter opens.
The letter is eight pages long and broken down into several sub-sections including "DoD’s Slow and Disjointed Response Put Servicemembers at Risk and Undermined Readiness," "Failed Response to Outbreak Aboard the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT," "DoD Still Lacks a Systematic Approach to the Coronavirus Pandemic," and "Recent Actions Continue to Raise Concerns about DoD’s Approach to Coronavirus."
Despite continuously touting the health and safety of service members and their families as one of his three top priorities, Esper has failed to provide cohesive guidance, continues to "unnecessarily" deploy service members to the border, and has provided outdated messaging causing concern about the DoD's knowledge of the virus, the letter alleges.
Esper has repeatedly explained his decisions in the face of the pandemic as a balancing process -- while service members must be kept safe from the pandemic, the nation must also be kept safe from foreign adversaries. This involves continuing deployments, new recruit shipments, and training exercises. He recently described America's service members as the "sentinels" standing guard as the country works to heal itself from within.
For the senators, however, his balancing act has tipped in favor of national security and failed on behalf of the service members maintaining that national security.
"Civilian leadership of the Department has failed to act sufficiently quickly, and has often prioritized readiness at the expense of the health of service members and their families," the letter reads.
The letter covers many of the DoD decisions that have featured prominently in the media over the past month -- the outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the continued Marine Corps grooming standards that had dozens of Marines lined up and down a hallway waiting for haircuts, among others. It compares the inconsistent implementation of measures across different branches and installations as well as within different basic training programs.
Finally, the letter asks for answers.
"You can and must do better and we hope that you will act quickly in this regard. To that end, we request answers to the following questions no later than May 11, 2020," the letter reads before listing its questions requesting information on metrics, lessons, sustainment, and protection in the face of the pandemic.
Read the full letter here.
Warren's brother, a 25-year Air Force veteran, died from coronavirus-related complications last week.
No family was present when Warren's Air Force veteran brother died from COVID-19
The letter's co-signers include Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii; Kamala Harris, Calif.; Patty Murray, Wash.; Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; Jeff Merkley, Ore.; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Ron Wyden, Ore.; Amy Klobuchar, Minn.; and Ed Markey, Mass.
In what Military.com described as a "hotly worded response" to the letter, Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman refuted the senator's description of Esper's response saying the DoD has "worked to find the right balance of protecting our people and protecting America."
As of Tuesday morning, the DoD had 6,648 confirmed COVID-19 cases across the force. So far, the virus has killed 27 members of the Defense community.
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