Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) abruptly ended the contract after an outcry over the companies’ Democratic ties.
The Michigan contract, worth nearly $200,000 over the next eight weeks, was signed Monday and allowed the hiring of a subcontractor to help with “contact tracing,” a process to track residents with the coronavirus and those with whom they have interacted.The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that the program would be run by Great Lakes Community Engagement, which is headed by a Michigan-based Democratic consultant.
By Tuesday afternoon, the state said it would move in a different direction, hiring a different vendor to oversee the project and another firm to provide the software infrastructure.“The executive office is uncomfortable with this vendor for the same reason others are. The public needs to have confidence that this tracing work is being done by a nonpartisan firm,” said Tiffany Brown, the governor’s press secretary.
After the state announced the project Monday, Republican state legislators, including the chairman of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee, began raising questions about the spending. opposed to her actions to shut down the state to guard against the pandemic. Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday afternoon tweeted about the Michigan contract, writing; “Oh Em Gee! This is some pretty scary stuff.”Republicans said they were particularly concerned that a politically connected firm could use health data collection — and the tracing of people’s personal connections — to gain a political advantage.
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