If the US state governors appear to be making the decisions in lockdowns, business reopenings & other coronavirus control measures, it is because Trump has refused to openly take the lead. But make no mistake, Trump is still in charge of the republican states behind the scenes - Abbott, Ducey, DeSantis, Kemp & most of the other republican governors have been obediently following Trump’s coronavirus playbook from the start so whatever disaster they’re in now, is clearly Trump’s fault. It’s the democratic governors & republican holdouts like Hogan that have refused to go along w/ Trump’s anti-science & coronavirus denialism.
Yes, America‘s political system is one of federalism but it’s not unique. Many developed countries like Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany practise federalism but have done relatively well in the coronavirus fight. For these countries, there have been disagreements and political compromises had to be made but their approaches have been similar because they are all following the science.
The sharing of power between the federal & state governments is not the reason behind America’s disastrous coronavirus response. In the early days of the coronavirus, even the democratic state governors were more than willing to follow Trump’s lead until they realised that Trump was basing his coronavirus strategy not on science but solely on his re-election timetable. In fact, federalism has saved America from an even worse coronavirus disaster simply because the democratic state governors had the power not to go along with Trump’s madness.
But in the end, all this is not going to stop the US from falling into the coronavirus abyss. States cannot close their borders and their quarantines are full of holes so imported infections from other states will keep happening. Without the federal government taking the lead, there is no way to scale up enough coronavirus testing & contact tracing. So even darker days ahead.