Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) blocked a Democratic resolution that would have called for the release of the reopening guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pushed for the release of the CDC guidelines during a Senate session on Wednesday, saying, “I wish President Trump and his aides could be trusted to tell the American people the truth about this public health crisis.”
Schumer was arguing for the release of the CDC’s re-opening guidelines amid reports that the White House guidelines are less restrictive than those put together by the CDC.
“I wish President Trump and his aides could be trusted to tell the American people the truth about this public health crisis. … The point is that America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by President Trump or his political minion,” Schumer said.
But Braun argued that Schumer is “really trying to let career regulators and agencies like the CDC bog down the economy again with Bureaucratic hurdles.”
He also argued, “The White House task force have been beyond transparent in the midst of this outbreak, indeed holding unprecedented amount of daily press briefings and allowing a free flow of information that has been central to the White House’s re-opening efforts.”
The Indiana lawmaker said, “This is not about transparency, the White House is always going to be in favor of transparency … This is about the minority leader trying to use the bureaucracy at the CDC to bog down the economy.”
Braun also blamed the CDC for the mishandling of the coronavirus response, saying that the CDC’s “missteps on testing forced us to take a one-size-fits-all approach.”
He also said that the “stodginess” in the CDC delayed the testing process.
Schumer seeks to pass resolution calling on CDC guidance detailing procedures for reopening of the country to be immediately released. Indiana Sen. Mike Braun indicating he will object, saying Schumer is trying to lean on CDC “bureaucrats” to “shutter the economy.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 13, 2020
There has been increasing criticism from some Republicans who have reportedly blamed the career officials at agencies like the CDC for the bottomed-out economy.
Specifically, there has been criticism of infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But other Republicans, like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), have praised Fauci. Cheney recently called him “among the finest public servants we have ever had.”
