Share
News

Governor Whitmer Extends Stay-at-Home Order for a 5th Time

Share

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday extended her stay-at-home order through June 12.

“We must move with care, patience, and vigilance, recognizing the grave harm that this virus continues to inflict on our state and how quickly our progress in suppressing it can be undone,” Whitmer’s order said.

Whitmer acted a day after a court ruled the governor has the power to continue a state of emergency, according to Fox News.

Republican legislators had filed suit against Whitmer’s order, which has drawn protests, including one in which residents exercising their Second Amendment rights protested at the Michigan legislature.

Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox criticized Whitmer’s action.

“Not only is Gretchen Whitmer going around the state Legislature with her stay-at-home orders, but now she is sneaking around the people of Michigan by announcing an extension to her stay at home order after regular business hours on a holiday weekend,” Cox wrote on Twitter. “The only thing she is trying to keep safe is her political career.”

Chilly’s Bar in Flint also pushed back and promised disobedience.

Is this simply a case of someone who refuses to let go of power?

“This will come with a lot of backlash and we may lose our license however we will loss [sic] our business anyway at this rate. On 5/28 we will be opening the doors at 10am. Please make your own choice and do what is right in your eyes for yourself and your families. We have respected and followed the opinions of the governor for a long time however in our opinion we feel it is safe for us to open. We do ask if you visit our location please use one of the 3 hand sanitizer stations placed throughout the building. Stand Up Michigan,” the bar posted on its Facebook page.

Others also took jabs Whitmer.

Related:
Former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Referred to Department of Justice for Criminal Prosecution

In her fifth extension of an order originally issued in March, Whitmer said she has the power to do as she wants through the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act and the state’s Emergency Management Act.

“A second wave of COVID-19 cases continues to pose a deadly threat to the people of this state. As various sectors of Michigan’s economy begin to reopen, we must be able to respond nimbly to new data about transmission and health risks of the virus,”  Whitmer claimed in the declaration of an emergency issued along with the stay-at-home order.

“The health, economic, and social harms of the COVID-19 pandemic thus remain widespread and severe, and they continue to constitute a statewide emergency and disaster. While the virus has afflicted some regions of the state more severely than others, the extent of the virus’s spread, coupled with its elusiveness and its ease of transmission, render the virus difficult to contain and threaten the entirety of this state,”  she wrote.

“Statewide coordination of these efforts is crucial to creating a stable path to recovery. Until that recovery is underway, the economic and fiscal harms from this pandemic have been contained, and the threats posed by COVID-19 to life and the public health, safety, and welfare of this state have been neutralized, statewide disaster and emergency conditions will exist,” her declaration said.

Whitmer claimed that while COVID-19 cases are declining, “we are not out of the woods yet.”

“If we’re going to lower the chance of a second wave and continue to protect our neighbors and loved ones from the spread of this virus, we must continue to do our part by staying safer at home,” Whitmer said, according to WJBK.

“If we open too soon, thousands more could die and our hospitals will get overwhelmed,” she said. “While we finally have more protective equipment like masks, we can’t run the risk of running low again. We owe it to the real heroes on the front lines of this crisis — our first responders, health care workers and critical workers putting their lives on the line every day — to do what we can ourselves to stop the spread of the virus.”

Whitmer has relaxed some of the restrictions she initially imposed, and now allows stores to open by appointment and people to gather socially in groups of 10 or fewer.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Share
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation