Fauci can testify to Senate, but not House, Trump says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would allow the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to testify before a Senate committee, but he defended a decision to block his testimony before a Democrat-controlled House panel.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next week.

The committee is chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. Democrats on the panel include Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

Rosen said she was looking forward to an update on the pandemic from Fauci “and what he recommends for next steps based on science and medicine.”

“It’s clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of questions that must be answered,” Rosen said.

“I’m focused on making sure that Nevada gets the funds and resources that we need,” she added.

Trump told reporters he blocked Fauci from testifying this week before a House Appropriations subcommittee on health because the House is controlled by Democrats.

“The House is a setup,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “The House is a bunch of Trump haters. They put every Trump hater on the committee.”

“But Dr. Fauci will be testifying in front of the Senate, and he looks forward to doing that,” Trump told reporters before boarding Marine One.

The president said regardless of constitutional oversight authority, the House was trying to keep the administration from being successful in its fight against the pandemic. “They want us to fail so they can win an election.”

Democrats have sought oversight of the administration’s response to the pandemic and its handling of the outbreak when the coronavirus swept through states and forced a closure of businesses.

“As Congress drafts new legislation that is intended to save lives and provide economic relief, we have an obligation to hear directly from the nation’s top public health experts,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

“Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s shameful attempt to prevent the House of Representatives from conducting oversight of the executive branch is nothing new,” Titus said.

Trump, who is seeking re-election, has often contradicted and ignored guidelines from Fauci and other top scientists who serve on his administration’s task force battling the coronavirus outbreak.

The slow federal response to the outbreak forced the nation’s governors, including Republicans, to criticize the administration for a lack of supplies, personal protective equipment and ventilators as the number of COVID-19 cases increased.

And such Republican governors as Larry Hogan of Maryland, chairman of the National Governors Association, and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire have urged the president and Senate Republicans to provide more assistance to states battling the coronavirus.

Even Trump, who once suggested the coronavirus would miraculously disappear, warned this week that the outbreak could now cost more than 100,000 lives in the United States.

Congress has passed three relief bills totaling more than $3 trillion to lessen the public health and economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. A fourth bill is being written in the House to help states and cities.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.