The coronavirus task force might be coming to an end
Happy Tuesday. You made it another day. Give yourself a pat on the back.
President Donald Trump left Washington Tuesday for only the third time since the coronavirus pandemic began, heading to Phoenix to tour a Honeywell facility making N95 masks that are critical for health care worker fighting coronavirus. He also attending a roundtable about issues around coronavirus specific to Native Americans.
But before he took off, he had a parting shot at House Democrats, saying Dr. Anthony Fauci would be allowed to testify in front of the Senate, but not the House. The House Appropriations Committee had sought Fauci’s testimony at a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday to look into the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The House is a bunch of Trump haters,” Trump said at the White House before departing for the trip. “They put every Trump hater on the committee.”
And around the time Trump departed for Arizona, news was bubbling up that the White House may soon begin disbanding its coronavirus task force.
"I think we’re having conversations about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work and for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency-by-agency level," Pence told reporters, according to a transcript of his remarks reviewed by Paste BN.
"We can't keep our country closed for the next five years," Trump told reporters in Arizona when asked why now is the right time to unwind the group.
Here's what else was going on in the world of politics Tuesday:
- An HHS official says he was ousted from his position after raising concerns about hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump had touted for use against coronavirus.
- Trump's intelligence chief nominee navigated questions about coronavirus at surreal Senate hearing
- Trump downplayed report forecasting 3,000 coronavirus deaths a day by June 1
- The feds arrested two men accused of defrauding the loan program meant for small businesses hurt by coronavirus.
Tomorrow is the halfway point in the week. You've got this. -- Annah Aschbrenner