Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump White House Interfered With CDC Covid Reports, House Panel Finds
The Hill: Trump Officials Interfered With CDC Guidance For Political Purposes, House Panel Finds
The Trump administration regularly interfered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) process for developing and issuing guidance about the coronavirus, changed scientific reports and undermined top public health officials, a congressional panel said Monday. The House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis said interviews, emails and other documents obtained by the panel showed how political appointees in the Trump administration took control of CDC’s public communications and overruled scientists in an effort to bend the agency to Trump’s rosy outlook on the pandemic. (Weixel, 10/17)
Bloomberg: Trump’s CDC Changed Covid Reports Under Political Pressure, Panel Finds
The CDC bowed to the Trump administration’s demands to change the editorial process of its weekly scientific journal after warnings from then health secretary Alex Azar to “get in line,” a House investigation found. The pressure faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report‘s procedures was one of several instances of political interference by former President Donald Trump’s aides that the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis identified in a report released Monday. The report was provided to Bloomberg Law ahead of the official release. (Baumann, 10/17)
The Washington Post: CDC Officials Describe Intense Pressure, Job Threats From Trump White House
Former CDC director Robert Redfield, former top deputy Anne Schuchat and others described how the Trump White House and its allies repeatedly “bullied” staff, tried to rewrite their publications and threatened their jobs in an attempt to align the CDC with the more optimistic view of the pandemic espoused by Donald Trump, the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis concluded in a report released Monday. Several public health officials detailed a months-long campaign against Schuchat sparked by Trump appointees’ belief that her grim assessments of the pandemic reflected poorly on the president, leading Schuchat, a 32-year CDC veteran, to openly wonder if she would be fired in the summer of 2020, her colleagues told the panel. (Diamond, 10/17)
On disinfectants, mask mandates, and hydroxychloroquine —
Insider: Fauci Had 'Bad Feeling' Before Trump Floated Using Disinfectants For COVID-19
"I didn't want to go up on there with this because I had a bad feeling about when Homeland Security brought this guy in, he briefed the people in the Situation Room beforehand. And as soon as I heard it, I said, holy [expletive], this is going to go bad. Why don't I bow out of this one?" Dr. Anthony Fauci said. (Dorman, 10/16)
Reuters: Trump Administration Blocked CDC Transit Mask Mandate, Report Shows
Former President Donald Trump's administration at a crucial time in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 blocked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from adopting a federal mandate requiring face masks on airline flights and other forms of transit, a congressional report released on Monday said. Marty Cetron, a senior CDC official, is cited in the report as saying the federal public health agency began working on the proposed order in July 2020 after its experts determined that there was scientific evidence to support requiring masks in public and commercial transportation. (Shepardson, 10/17)
Newsweek: Trump Admin Tried To Shelve Findings That Discredited COVID Drug: Report
The administration of former President Donald Trump allegedly attempted to bury findings that discredited drugs unproven to cure COVID, according to a congressional report released Monday. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis headed by Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn reported that scientific integrity was compromised by Trump and his White House "to serve the former president's political goals." (Mordowanec, 10/17)
CBS News: Top CDC Scientist Said COVID-Era Health Policy Used To Expel Migrants Unfairly Stigmatized Them
The U.S. government's top public health expert on migration told Congress he refused to approve a policy allowing mass expulsions at the U.S.-Mexico border because he believed the measure, enacted by President Donald Trump and retained by President Joe Biden, unfairly stigmatized migrants as spreaders of COVID-19. (Montoya-Galvez, 10/17)
