New Mexico Republicans, Gov. Lujan Grisham clash over reopening state

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New Mexico Senate Republicans and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham exchanged biting words in a pair of letters this week over Republican demands that the governor reopen the entire state by Thursday.

After a Monday letter from most of the GOP members of the state Senate demanding the state reopen, Lujan Grisham responded with a letter of her own Tuesday, obtained by the Las Cruces Sun News, accusing the legislators of an "utter failure and unflinching surrender to the virus ravaging our communities, your communities, and those your represent whether you believe in the danger of this disease or not."

The conflict in the southwestern state comes as legal battles and protests rage in states around the country between those opposed to the economic shutdowns and stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of the virus and governors intent on keeping them intact for at least the immediate future.

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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham traded barbs with state GOP lawmakers this week over whether or not to lift its coronavirus restrictions. (Official)

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"We, as representatives of our districts at-large, call upon you to now as the chief executive of the State of New Mexico, lift all mandates under the current order(s) in favor of a full opening of New Mexico by 8:00 a.m., May 21, 2020," the Republicans' letter, also obtained by the Las Cruces Sun News, reads.

The senators continued: "The recent Department of Health orders, coupled with the separate and unrelated budget shortfall caused by over-optimism in the oil markets, will undoubtedly have disastrous effect on the New Mexico economy. This massive economic shortfall will impact services for those regularly receiving assistance as well as those who find themselves newly unemployed and impoverished."

In her response to the GOP letter, Lujan Grisham, one of the several Democrats who has gotten buzz as a potential vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, accused the legislators of ignoring public health experts who have cautioned that getting back to business-as-usual too soon will result in further spread of the virus and preventable deaths.

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"I notice your letter does not cite the reporting or study of any public health experts or any scientific or epidemiological leaders," she wrote. "This is because no public health expert or epidemiologist could or would or does support what you describe as a simple 'common sense' approach to this public health crisis. ...

"I further notice that your letter elides the glaring fact that New Mexico's relative success in combating this virus is due to the fact my administration has taken strong steps to protect New Mexicans from precisely this kind of proudly anti-scientific bluster and misjudgment encapsulated in your letter," she said.

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The nation's most-visible public health expert, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, indeed said in a Senate hearing last week that reopening states too quickly could lead to preventable "suffering and death" and "turn the clock back instead of going forward."

"If some areas – cities, states or what have you – jump over those barriers, checkpoints and prematurely open up without having the capability of being able to respond effectively, and efficiently, my concern is that we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks," Fauci said, touting the White House's guidelines for states to reopen.

Those guidelines require that states see an uninterrupted decrease in coronavirus cases over a two-week period before moving to the first, limited reopening phase. They would then have to meet further benchmarks to move on to more advanced stages of reopening.

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Others, however, have pushed for a faster reopening, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who joined Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., in a USA Today op-ed Thursday.

"While President Donald Trump urged governors to safely open our country, Fauci testified to a Senate committee last week that opening too soon would 'result in needless suffering and death,'" the lawmakers wrote. "What about the countless stories of needless suffering and death produced by Fauci’s one-size-fits-all approach to public health?"

Paul and Biggs wrote that Fauci has "has not fully considered the public health risks" of a prolonged shutdown, citing "people who have experienced significant health problems due to the economic and emotional stress" caused by the state lockdowns.