Stepping up his criticism of the federal government, Governor Phil Murphy this afternoon reported an additional 4,427 positive COVID-19 test results, bringing the statewide total to 99,989 positive COVID-19 cases. He announced the state-processing of 307 additional deaths in 24 hours, bringing the New Jersey death total to 5,368.

“There are many whose battle with the invisible enemy was not successful,” lamented Murphy, who delivered the numbers a day after he first criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) views on state bankruptcy.

He amplified his criticism of the feds today.

“I know how dire the situation is,” said the governor. “If we do not get signficiant financial federal support we will be forced to make many difficult decisions about programs we rely on.”

Murphy again slapped McConnell.

“This isn’t about partisanship,” said the New Jersey governor. “What better role mode than Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, or Theodore Roosevelt. Or George Herbert Walker Bush. Those were the leaders who met the moment. And that is the challenge to you.

“Find your bigness, and to meet history head on and to do the right thing,” Murphy added.

Unfortunately, if it wasn’t bad enough yesterday, Murphy said, it worsened today.

“The U.S. Treasury Department issued guidance for how New Jersey can use billions of dollars in funding in the CARES Act,” the governor said.

“This funding, while deeply aprpreciated, is woefully insufficient to address the scale of revenue loss,” he added. “I was assured this funding could be used flexibly by states. Those assurrances, apparently, were empty. Treasurey’s guidance renders this funding literally unsable. …One point eight billion ($1.8 billion) from CARES was never enough to begin with, but at the very least, we should be able to support our people and reinforce funding for municipalities and school districts.”