May 10, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Top Trump health officials to testify before Senate via videoconference

Jacob Knutson

Fauci and Redfield. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Anthony Fauci, FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn, CDC director Robert Redfield, and coronavirus testing coordinator Brett Giroir will testify via videoconference before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced Sunday.

Why it matters: Fauci, Redfield and Hahn are all self-quarantining after coming in "low risk" contact with a White House staffer who tested positive for the virus.

The big picture: This will be the first time Trump administration health officials will testify about the federal government's response to the pandemic since the White House announced it would block members of the coronavirus task force from testifying during the month May.

In March, Fauci testified that the current system of making coronavirus testing available in the U.S. was not set up in a way that it needed it to be, calling it a "failing."
President Trump has since dismissed attempts to conduct oversight over the administration's coronavirus response, even claiming that the House of Representatives is "a bunch of Trump haters."

Go deeper: Whistleblower alleges Trump administration ignored coronavirus warnings

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Top Trump health officials to testify before Senate via videoconference

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