White House coronavirus task force BANNED from testifying to Congress about Trump administration response to pandemic
THE White House Coronavirus Task Force members are forbidden from testifying before Congress about the government's response to the pandemic, it was reported on Monday.
Dr was banned from with a congressional committee next week, which is set to probe how the administration addressed the crisis.
New guidelines were issued on Monday which stipulated that members of the task force should not accept any invite to congressional hearings this month, according to.
"We’re telling agencies that during this unprecedented time our resources need to be dedicated toward the coronavirus," a top aide told the publication.
"At this stage we really need everybody manning their stations and prioritizing coronavirus response work."
On Friday, the White House said it would be "counterproductive" for members to give their account after a spokesperson for The House of Representatives revealed Fauci had been blocked from doing so.
“While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings," White House aide Judd Deere told .
"We are committed to working with to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”
from testifying at a May 6 hearing by a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health programs, according to Evan Hollander, Communications Director for the House Appropriations Committee.
On May 12, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is set to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a coronavirus-related hearing.
The new rules state that “no more than one COVID-related hearing should be agreed to with the department’s primary House and Senate authorizing committee and appropriations subcommittee for the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and the State Department."
There is a cap of four coronavirus-related hearings through the end of the month.
“The demands on agencies’ staff and resources are extraordinary in this current crisis," the new guidance continues. "Agencies must maximize their resources for and treat hearing requests accordingly.
“Given these competing demands in these unprecedented times, it is reasonable to expect that agencies will have to decline invitations to hearings to remain focused on implementing of , including declining to participate in multiple hearings on the same or overlapping topics.”
It was issued right as the Senate comes back into session while the House considers how to safely bring its members to Washington.
and called for investigations into the president's handling of the outbreak in recent days, after thousands of deaths, infections, and mass unemployment.
Trump pushed back on reports he planned to fire Fauci after calling for him to be sacked last month.
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During a virtual town hall on Sunday night at the Lincoln Memorial in , the president said everyone - including Fauci - of the virus.
"What I did, way early, is I closed our country to China," Trump added, after claiming the top doc had said "it's not gonna be a big deal."
shut its gates to on January 31 but it did not stop travel to until March - , according to reports.