House panel: White House blocks Fauci testimony on coronavirus

Axios logoThe Trump administration has blocked Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, from testifying on the coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters: Fauci has often given Americans a reality check on the administration’s response to the coronavirus and has garnered bipartisan credibility for his straight-forward approach to the crisis.

  • The Washington Post first reported that the administration rejected the House committee’s request for Fauci’s testimony, quoting a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee.

Flashback: Fauci testified in March that America’s system of making coronavirus tests available is not set up in a way it needs to be.

  • Fauci and Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, are set to “take a back seat” to the White House messaging on coronavirus, a White House official told Axios’ Jonathan Swan this week.