Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Window Shutting On Deal For More Federal Covid Funds
The Washington Post: Congressional Covid Funding Deal Appears ‘Dead’ After GOP Criticism
A congressional deal for billions of dollars in additional coronavirus funding appeared all but dead Thursday after Senate Republicans accused the White House of being dishonest about the nation’s pandemic funding needs. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who brought the Senate close to a bipartisan $10 billion covid funding deal in March, said the Biden administration had provided “patently false” information about its inability to buy additional vaccines, treatments and supplies. He cited a newly announced White House plan to repurpose some existing funds to cover the country’s most pressing vaccine and treatment needs. (Diamond, 6/16)
Stat: Mitt Romney Says White House Misled Congress On Covid-19 Funds
Mitt Romney, a prominent Republican senator who spearheaded failed Covid-19 response funding negotiations, on Thursday accused the White House of misleading Congress about the urgency of the situation. In a striking monologue during a congressional hearing, Romney expressed anger that he spent months negotiating with his colleagues to craft a $10 billion funding package, when the Biden administration earlier this month announced that it had repurposed existing funding to pay for $10 billion in vaccines and therapeutics purchases in the absence of congressional action. (Cohrs, 6/16)
In covid updates from the Biden administration —
NBC News: Biden Tested Negative For Covid, Source Says, After White House Spokesperson Declined To Disclose
President Joe Biden twice tested negative for the coronavirus this week, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News, despite high-profile interactions with individuals who recently disclosed positive cases. The disclosure came after the top White House spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, repeatedly refused to reveal the president’s testing status, a reversal from previous practice. (Memoli, 6/16)
AP: White House Clams Up On Biden COVID-19 Testing Regimen
In an abrupt change of course, the White House is now declining to comment on the frequency of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 testing regimen, even as it maintains that it would inform the public if he were to ever test positive for the coronavirus. Since Inauguration Day, the White House had frequently answered questions from reporters about when Biden, 79, last tested negative for the virus. Now, the White House says its policy is not to answer those questions. (Miller and Weissert, 6/17)
Politico: Bidenworld: We Won The Covid Battle, Lost The Political War
The White House believes it’s finally got the Covid crisis under control. But it may be too late to claim any of the credit. Five months out from the midterms, administration health officials are increasingly confident they’ve blunted the worst of the virus’ effects. Cases continue to climb. But Covid deaths are down and hospital ICUs are emptier than they’ve been in years, with vaccines and treatments capable of fending off severe illness widely available. (Cancryn, 6/16)
And from the CDC —
NBC News: Deborah Birx To Testify Publicly For First Time Since Leaving Trump Administration
Deborah Birx, who served as Covid response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, will give her first public testimony about her time in the Trump administration. Birx is scheduled to provide testimony on June 23 at a hearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, led by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. (Stewart, 6/16)
Politico: Covid Doesn't Stop Anthony Fauci From Taking On Rand Paul – Again
Despite this week’s Covid-19 diagnosis, the White House’s top medical adviser and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci was still up for his usual sparring with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The 81-year-old infectious disease expert testified by video and in isolation on Thursday at a Senate HELP hearing on the federal pandemic response after testing positive for Covid Wednesday. Fauci is fully vaccinated and has received two boosters, and is taking the antiviral Paxlovid. It is not yet known how he was exposed to the virus. Yet Fauci and Sen. Paul got into their typical heated back-and-forth during the senator’s allotted time for questioning. (Foley and Leonard, 6/16)
Fox News: Fauci Says COVID-19 Origin Evidence Points 'Strongly' Toward 'Natural Occurrence'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified virtually before a Thursday Senate panel about the illness only a day after announcing he had contracted COVID-19. Fauci, when asked if there were any breakthroughs in understanding the origin of COVID-19, said that researchers had concluded that it "very, very likely" had its genesis in an animal species. Additionally, Fauci stated that the disease "almost certainly" spread to human beings in the Wuhan region of China. (Nerozzi, 6/16)
