The Senate is in session. The House is in recess.

Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) has come under intense criticism for taking steps to re-open Georgia. The criticism is peculiar. Reading the reactions on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and elsewhere, one would think that Kemp is forcing businesses to re-open and making consumers begin visiting stores and restaurants. The reality is that it’s up to business owners whether they re-open, and it’s up to consumers whether they leave their homes. It’s a choice, which is the very basis of liberty.

A rushed legislative process often has unintended consequences. Language is hastily written. Policies that are included aren’t fully thought through. The most important thing in the minds of lawmakers is to “do something.” Certainly, something had to be done in response to COVID-19, but aspects of the Phase III response, the CARES Act, will almost certainly hurt the economic recovery. One aspect of the CARES Act that will hurt the recovery is the enhanced unemployment benefits for Americans who’ve lost their jobs due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.

President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that he has the constitutional authority to adjourn Congress. The suggestion has been, unsurprisingly, panned by the media and legal scholars. The Constitution does actually provide some authority here, but the authority has never been used, leaving more questions than answers.

Writing in her 2006 book, Liberty for All: Reclaiming Individual Privacy in a New Era of Public Morality, professor Elizabeth Price Foley explained, “America started with a concept of limited government, designed to protect and improve the life, liberty, and property of citizens, and has ended with a concept of unlimited government, capable of restricting our life, liberty, and property in the name of protecting us from ourselves.”

FreedomWorks signed a coalition led by Americans for Tax Reform to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in opposition to a proposed "Buy American" mandates on medicines and medical supplies. The letter was released today by Americans for Tax Reform. The text of the letter is below and a PDF can be found here.

On Friday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) sent a letter with 20 of his colleagues to President Trump urging him to oppose any additional coronavirus relief packages while our country awaits the full impact of the last three phases, including the most recent $2.3 Trillion CARES Act. Among the signers of the letter are Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), renowned budget hawk Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), and others.

Only a few days after Congress passed a massive $2.3 trillion bill, the CARES Act, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, some in Congress are already eyeing a “Phase IV” bill as a vehicle for their pet legislative priorities that have nothing to do with the pandemic. As we learned last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was more than willing to use this crisis to shill for leftist policies, but it’s becoming a bipartisan problem.