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Press Release Published: Jul 23, 2021

Scalise: Where is the Justice for Nursing Home Victims & Their Grieving Families?

WASHINGTON—Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Ranking Member Steve Scalise (R-La.) today blasted the Department of Justice’s refusal to investigate deadly mandates in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan sending COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes and long-term care facilities, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of seniors.

“It is outrageous that the Department of Justice refuses to investigate the deadly ‘must admit’ orders issued by governors in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan that resulted in the deaths of thousands of senior citizens. Where is the justice for nursing home victims and their grieving families? These deadly orders contradicted the CDC’s guidance, and needlessly endangered the most vulnerable among us to the deadly COVID-19 virus. Even worse, Governor Cuomo in New York intentionally tried to cover up the true death toll resulting from his mandate. Grieving families deserve answers and accountability. It’s unconscionable that Biden’s Department of Justice refuses to investigate the deadly actions that went against CDC’s medical guidance taken in these states.”

Background:

On June 15, 2020, Select Subcommittee Republicans sent letters to the governors of five states that forced nursing homes to take in COVID-positive patients as part of their pandemic response.

On June 25, 2020, Select Subcommittee Republicans, as well as Republican members of the New York, California, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania delegations, urged the attorneys general of those states to investigate the origins of their governors’ deadly nursing home orders and the impact those orders had on their states’ elderly populations.

On March 12, 2021, Scalise joined Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a group of Senators in calling on the Justice Department to continue its probe into whether state officials failed to comply with federal guidelines or requirements for participation in federal programs in their response to coronavirus infections among seniors and nursing home residents.