Lawmakers call for investigation of political interference at CDC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations panel, and others sent a letter today calling for a formal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General investigation into allegations that the White House and its appointees have interfered with the work of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic for political purposes.

"The Committee has repeatedly raised alarm over the sidelining of CDC, its public health experts, and the politicization of science in the Trump Administration's COVID-19 response," the lawmakers wrote. "Neither Secretary Azar nor Director Redfield has taken substantive action to depoliticize the COVID-19 response efforts."

"To that end," the lawmakers continued, "we are calling for a full and thorough investigation of these reported events to determine whether and to what extent the White House, or its political appointees, have interfered with or politicized the scientific work of CDC during the COVID-19 response."

The lawmakers' request for an investigation comes on the heels of several troubling reports that have increased concerns of the Trump administration's efforts to interfere with CDC's policies and guidance, including:

• On August 24, CDC quietly modified its coronavirus testing guidelines to say that people who have been in close contact with an infected individual "do not necessarily need a test" if they do not have symptoms and only reversed the guidance following an outcry from public health experts nationwide.
• On September 2, CDC notified public health officials across the country to prepare to distribute a coronavirus vaccine by November 1, raising concerns that vaccine approval and distribution is being driven by political consideration for the presidential election rather than scientific data.
• On September 10, it was reported that key Trump Administration political appointees allegedly demanded to review and sought to make changes to CDC's scientific publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR).
• On September 16, following Director Redfield's comments before Congress that a COVID-19 vaccine for the general public would not come until mid-2021 and that masks may be more effective than a vaccine for certain individuals, the President used his press conference to declare that Redfield's remarks were a "mistake" and that "this is incorrect information."
• On September 18, CDC posted online guidance that said airborne transmission was thought to be the main way the virus spreads. On September 21, the guidance was removed from the CDC site.
• On September 22, it was reported that the office of Director Redfield directed an April 2020 memorandum detailing safety recommendations for a meat processing plant during COVID-19 be modified to suggest that the guidance outlined in the memorandum was only "if feasible" or "if possible" and noting that certain measures were only "recommended."

As part of their inquiry, the lawmakers requested the HHS Inspector General to examine whether:

• Any CDC career personnel raised concerns about interference from government officials outside CDC undermining CDC's mission or its public health response to COVID-19?
• White House personnel, including any political appointees, rejected, revised, discontinued, or dictated CDC COVID-19-related public health guidance, scientific publications, or data reporting platform, including MMWRs, testing guidelines, school or employer reopening guidelines, and hospital capacity reporting system?

In addition to DeGette, the letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

A copy of the lawmakers' request to the HHS IG is available here.