"Project Air Bridge was so successful at delivering massive amounts of critical supplies to the American people, that now there’s enough PPE in this country for us to return to the sea bridge method we used before Coronavirus," Gidley said in an email to NBC News. Kushner has called the overall White House coronavirus response "a great success story," and White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday the flight program had hit its mark. The program, which relied on fast-track contracting procedures available because of the national emergency, had drawn scrutiny after news reports from NBC News, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and others about its operations - including complaints from state and local governments that protective equipment they were expecting had been rerouted and a Washington Post study showing it hasn't delivered as many items as White House officials say. The companies are assured that their masks, gloves, gowns and other materials will pass customs easily, while the White House, working through the coronavirus task force, ends up with the power to route 60 percent of the equipment. Project Airbridge offers major corporations full federal funding for air shipments of goods in exchange for the right to keep 20 percent of the haul for the federal government's Strategic National Stockpile and to direct the distribution of half of the remaining stock. This administration never misses a moment to congratulate itself, but its actions speak louder than words." "It is a life-and-death fight, and we must treat it like one. "Every day, our members are heroically trying to stop the spread of this virus without the basic masks, gowns and face shields they need to protect themselves," Weingarten said. "On top of downplaying the virus' threat from Day One, and flagrantly ignoring workers' dire need for PPE, it’s outrageous that one of its only remaining initiatives to secure supplies has been scrapped rather than fixed and ratcheted up," she said. Still, Weingarten said the need for goods is immense. Unlike the medical-goods suppliers that were part of Airbridge, the union had to pay the costs of bringing in equipment. Last week, the union - which represents the second-highest number of nurses of any labor organization in the country - announced that it had secured batches of equipment from China to distribute to hospital workers after a nearly two-month effort to find vendors, vet the goods, comply with Chinese and American regulations and secure air transportation. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in an email to NBC News that now is not the time for the federal government to terminate expedited sourcing of personal protective equipment. The wind-down comes at a time when front-line responders around the country and their representatives say that they don’t have a stable supply of personal protective equipment to ensure they can do their jobs without contracting or spreading the virus. "The decision to ramp down flights is based on demand signals and indications that the health sector has enough support to allow for companies to transition back to regular transport methods," according to a summary of the private meeting at FEMA's headquarters obtained by NBC News. The summary reveals no discussion of the political heat the program had drawn, but instead chalks up the termination to an absence of need. House Democratic chairmen have asked the administration to provide information on the program's contracts, flights and delivery of goods.
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