White House Blocks Dems Attempt To Drag Dr, Fauci To Testify Before Congress

The Hill reports that the White House has blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying before an influential subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to discuss aspects of the Trump Administration’s handling of the response to the pandemic.

Last time he appeared before Congress back in March, Dr. Fauci described the failure to test more thoroughly during the early days of the outbreak was “a failing”. This sparked rumors about a falling-out between Trump and the good doctor.

House Democrats seeking Anthony Fauci’s testimony next week on the coronavirus crisis have been rebuffed by the White House, which is blocking the nation’s top infectious disease expert from appearing before Congress.

Democrats had invited Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, to appear before an Appropriations subcommittee examining the Trump administration’s response to the global pandemic, which has killed more than 60,000 people in the United States alone.

Evan Hollander, a spokesman for the panel, said Friday that Democrats “have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying.”

Moments later, the White House said it would be “counter-productive” to have officials involved in efforts to defeat the novel coronavirus testify at congressional hearings at this time but that the administration would work with Congress to make them available at the appropriate time.

“While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. “We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”

Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have rebuffed the media’s attempts to portray them as the lone voices of reason trapped by the whims of a unstable leader who doesn’t value scientific input. But we have no doubt that the White House’s decision will only stoke the Dems’ outrage and elicit even more of these types of accusations.