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Top Trump health officials to testify before Senate via videoconference

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

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer
Aug 18, 2020 - Health

Birx: "I wish that when we went into lockdown, we looked like Italy"

Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, speaks after a June briefing in Washington, D.C. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters Monday she would have liked to have seen the U.S. introduce stricter restrictions like Italy did to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

What she's saying: "I wish that when we went into lockdown, we looked like Italy," she said. "When Italy locked down, I mean, people weren't allowed out of their houses, they couldn't come out but once every two weeks to buy groceries for one hour and they had to have a certificate that said they were allowed. Americans don't react well to that kind of prohibition."

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 18 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Health: Communities of color are falling behind in America's vaccine effort.
  2. Politics: Hundreds of Biden staffers receive COVID vaccine — Axios-Ipsos poll: Trust in federal COVID-19 response surges.
  3. Business: Bankruptcy filings hit decade-high last year.
  4. World: U.K. surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths — 44% of Israelis have already received at least one vaccine dose.
  5. Sports: Pandemic has cost the NCAA $600 million — CDC looks at lessons learned from NFL's testing and contact tracing.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Rebecca Falconer
Aug 18, 2020 - World

New Zealand PM: Trump "patently wrong" about NZ coronavirus cases

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a press conference at the parliament building the Beehive in the capital, Wellington on Monday. Photo: Guo Lei/Xinhua via Getty Images

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday rejected President Trump's comments on New Zealand's growing number of coronavirus cases since COVID-19 was detected in the community for the first time in 102 days last week.

Driving the news: Trump said Monday when New Zealand "beat" the virus, "it was like front page, they beat it because they wanted to show me something." "The problem is big surge in New Zealand. It's terrible. We don't want that." But Ardern said there's "no comparison between New Zealand’s current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases being seen in the United States."

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow