Holland Reporter

Michigan Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) recently issued a statement denouncing and calling for the resignation of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon, after Gordon extended the current COVID-19 shutdown for an additional 12 days, according to MiSenateGOP.

“The Whitmer administration’s biggest bureaucratic disasters during the pandemic have been directly linked to poor leadership at the Unemployment Insurance Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services. The UIA director recently resigned in shame, and it’s time for DHHS Director Robert Gordon to resign as well," Nesbitt told MiSenateGOP.

A survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting on the experiences of businesses during the 2020 pandemic shows that 32% of Michigan’s private-sector businesses have been closed by government-ordered lockdowns and restrictions — the highest number of business closures in the nation.

Sen. Aric Nesbitt | #MiSenateGOP

“Director Gordon has issued statewide mandates shutting down small businesses without providing them the opportunity to operate safely — a move that has pushed these hardworking small business owners into bankruptcy through no fault of their own. He continues to ban in-person high school instruction and athletics, even when they can demonstrate safe health practices and standards. His one-size-fits-all approach lacks collaboration, thoughtfulness and empathy," Nesbitt said, according to MiSenateGOP.

Nesbitt blames Gordon for harmful nursing home policies at the start of the pandemic and for funneling no-bid contracts to the governor’s political operatives.

“Director Gordon, under Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer’s instruction, presided over the disastrous nursing home policy and ignored Michigan-made, FDA-approved testing supplies at the outset of the pandemic when our state was in desperate need. He also oversaw a no-bid contract for the governor’s political operatives that was run through a taxpayer-funded nonprofit to conceal activities that sparked a criminal investigation,” Nesbitt's statement reads, reported by MiSenateGOP.

Nesbitt concludes his statement with a call to replace Gordon with a leader who will work in partnership with the Michigan Legislature.

“The time for Director Gordon to resign is way past due, and the governor should replace him with an independent leader who will bring much-needed organization and a spirit of partnership to this administration,” Nesbitt told MiSenateGOP.