With over 600,000 Americans dead of COVID-19 and questions still raging about the origin of the virus and the government’s response, a push is underway on Capitol Hill and beyond for a full-blown investigation of the crisis by a national commission like the one that looked into 9/11.
It is unclear whether such a probe will happen, though a privately sponsored team of public health experts is already laying the groundwork for one.
Given that most of the disaster unfolded on President Donald Trump’s watch, many worry that politics will get in the way of any inquiry, as happened when Republicans came out against a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Others fear that a desire by many to simply move on will thwart a review.
“I think we need to get into the weeds, to look at the details to see what happened,” said Sabila Khan whose father, Shafqat Rasul Khan, died of COVID-19. “If this happens again, our loved ones died in vain.”
A bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine would establish such a commission.
