The Trump administration has blocked the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from testifying at a House hearing on reopening schools this fall.
Robert Redfield, CDC director, has said that the White House will not allow any member of the agency to testify in a House Education and Labor Committee to discuss the matter the debate over schooling during the coronavirus pandemic takes center stage, according to reporting from The Hill.
Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) summoned Redfield to testify at a session next week to discuss how and if America’s youth can physically return to schools in the coming weeks.
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“It is alarming that the Trump administration is preventing the CDC from appearing before the committee at a time when its expertise and guidance is so critical to the health and safety of students, parents, and educators,” Scott said.
“This lack of transparency does a great disservice to the many communities across the country facing difficult decisions about reopening schools this fall.”
A spokesperson for the White House stated that it would be “counterproductive” for those involved in the pandemic response to testify at such hearings.
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The move hearkens back to the Trump administration’s decision to block Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, from speaking about the government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak at a House Appropriations subcommittee in May.
President Donald Trump‘s rationale for banning Fauci from the hearing was his belief that it was a “set up” by Democrats on the panel, calling the Democratic-controlled House a “bunch of Trump Haters.”
“But the House, I will tell you, the House, they should be ashamed of themselves,” the president stated. “And, frankly, the Democrats should be ashamed, because they don’t want us to succeed. They want us to fail so they can win an election.”
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