WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on Wednesday pressed White House Coronavirus Task Force members about ongoing coronavirus response efforts and the leadership of the White House administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the administration’s efforts to drawback our presence at the World Health Organization. At a U.S. Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services hearing, Murphy specifically urged U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield to clarify the CDC’s confusing new guidance on testing and whether the policy change was driven by pressure from the White House to decrease testing.

On the link between the president’s comments on wanting less testing and the changed policies at the CDC, Murphy said: “[…]the president says he wants less testing. He says that out loud, he's asked for clarification, he doubles down, says I want less testing. And then right around that time, you issue this guidance that dramatically scales back recommendations for who gets tested, and the New York Times reports that that is because, in part, of instruction from the White House. You say today that that report is, in fact, untrue. But to many of us, it just belies reason that we would be encouraging fewer people to get tested today given the massive expansion of this virus.”

Murphy also pressed U.S. Department for Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir on the reassignment of WHO experts. Murphy said: “There's a report earlier this month that the United States is going to scale down its engagement further with the WHO, including recalling detailees from WHO headquarters, regional offices, and country offices and then reassigning these experts. I acknowledge I don't have time to get the answer today, but I think it's incredibly concerning that we might not have American personnel on the frontlines to sort of watch this virus and others through WHO field offices.”

Full transcript of Murphy’s question and answer with the witnesses is below:

MURPHY: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, thank you for spending so much time with us today. First, a note on communication to and through Congress and this committee. Senator Shaheen earlier asked about a $250 million contract that is being awarded by HHS to ‘defeat despair and promote hope,’ which sounds an awful lot like a political reelection year oriented message out of the administration.

“And we have two deputy secretaries of HHS before us today, and neither one of them can testify as to whether that contract is awarded, why it was awarded, what the reasons for it were. It's increasingly impossible for any of us to know who's in charge. We've got two people who are at the highest echelon of HHS and can’t answer a question about a massive contract that has been awarded. And I think that's the same thing for the American public. Dr. Birx was in charge, then Vice President Pence was in charge. It's really hard for there to be any accountability around decisions when we can't get these basic questions answered.

“I want to come back to Senator Merkley's question regarding the changed guidance, Dr. Redfield. So the President says he wants less testing. He says that out loud, he's asked for clarification, he doubles down, says ‘I want less testing.’ And then right around that time, you issue this guidance that dramatically scales back recommendations for who gets tested, and the New York Times reports that that is because, in part, of instruction from the White House. You say today that that report is, in fact, untrue. But to many of us, it just belies reason that we would be encouraging fewer people to get tested today given the massive expansion of this virus. 

“On the day that we passed the CARES Act, there were 10,000 new cases reported in this country. On average, we are seeing 34,000 new cases all across this country today. Your testimony was that you weren't necessarily saying folks who are asymptomatic shouldn't get tested, you're saying they should just see a doctor first. Is that correct? That was your clarification today?”

REDFIELD: “No, what I was saying is that when you get a test, like any physician who does a test, it needs to be linked to an action. And what we were trying to do is re-emphasize that testing is linked to an action, just like the senator said. She got tested, she was in quarantine, she got tested, she was negative, but that still was linked to an action to stay in quarantine for 14 days. What was happening was people were getting tested, and there was no action. So we were trying to bring action back into testing. We were not trying to limit. And I'll be very clear—”

MURPHY: “But let me just, before you do that, let me just read you this. This is from a medical journal earlier in the week. This is from the American Journal of Managed Care. Earlier in this week, CDC changed its guidance saying even if one had come into contact with an infected individual, a test is not necessary if there are no symptoms.”

REDFIELD: “That's not true what the guidance was attempting to say. It's true that some people interpreted that way. And that's why I issued a very clear statement in 24 hours afterwards to say CDC is not trying to emphasize. I do believe that more tests, as was said by Senator Durbin, more tests actually can lead to less cases, if testing is not linked to public health action.”

MURPHY: “But you did say they don't need a test.” 

REDFIELD: “No, we said they may not necessarily need a test.”

MURPHY: “What does that mean? Listen, you're speaking to the American public when you tell them that they don't necessarily need a test.”

REDFIELD: “They need to talk with a doctor or public health person to make that decision--”

MURPHY: “So what's the difference?”

REDFIELD: “So appropriate public health action can be taken into conjunction.”

MURPHY: “Okay, when you tell them that it's not automatic that they need to test, that they should see a doctor first, it gets communicated to people that the urgency is much lower.”

REDFIELD: “For all contexts sir, we're recommending all of them be tested. It was a misinterpretation by some and again, we're going to continue to clarify, because we are not recommending less tests. I do believe more tests ultimately are going to lead to less cases in this country because it's going to allow public health action to happen, just like it did for the senator, and we can use those tools to stop this pandemic.”

MURPHY: “I will ask this question for the record Mr. Chairman to Admiral Giroir. There's a report earlier this month that the United States is going to scale down its engagement further with the WHO, including recalling detailees from WHO headquarters, regional offices, and country offices and then reassigning these experts. I acknowledge I don't have time to get the answer today, but I think it's incredibly concerning that we might not have American personnel on the frontlines to sort of watch this virus and others through WHO field offices. And so I'd appreciate an answer for the record regarding who's going to replace those individuals inside countries of concern and how we keep eyes on this virus and future viruses. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

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