Conflicting Opinions On What Happened To The Team
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Beth Cameron, former Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense in the NSC, wrote, When President Trump took office in 2017, the White Houses National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact.
Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic. One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19 .
On March 14, 2020, John Bolton described the changes made to the team as streamlining. He tweeted: Claims that streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation’s bio defense are false. Global health remained a top NSC priority, and its expert team was critical to effectively handling the 2018-19 Africa Ebola crisis. The angry Left just can’t stop attacking, even in a crisis.
On March 19, 2020, former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called the changes elimination. He tweeted: The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to prepare for future pandemics like COVID-19. Donald Trump eliminated it and now we’re paying the price.
Some Personnel Remained In The Trump Administration
Though the unit was disbanded, not all members of the team left. Some moved to other units in the NSC, like those focused on weapons of mass destruction and international organizations, per The Washington Post.
At the time of the disbanding, National Security Council spokesman Robert Palladino told the Post the Trump administration “remains committed to global health, global health security and biodefense, and will continue to address these issues with the same resolve under the new structure.
After the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic in mid-March, the decision to disband the global health unit received fresh scrutiny. Bolton defended the restructuring on Twitter.
“Claims that streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation’s bio defense are false,” he wrote on March 13. “Global health remained a top NSC priority, and its expert team was critical to effectively handling the 2018-19 Africa Ebola crisis.”
Bolton attributed the attack to partisan politics.
“The angry Left just can’t stop attacking, even in a crisis,” he wrote.
More:Experts say Trump’s decision to disband pandemic team hindered coronavirus response
Even critics of the choice to disband the unit like Beth Cameron, its head under Obama noted that not all pandemic preparedness personnel left the administration.
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Trump Disbanded Nsc Pandemic Unit That Experts Had Praised
WASHINGTON Public health and national security experts shake their heads when President Donald Trump says the coronavirus came out of nowhere and blindsided the world.
Theyve been warning about the next pandemic for years and criticized the Trump administrations decision in 2018 to dismantle a National Security Council directorate at the White House charged with preparing for when, not if, another pandemic would hit the nation.
It would be nice if the office was still there, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, told Congress this week. I wouldnt necessarily characterize it as a mistake . I would say we worked very well with that office.
The NSC directorate for global health and security and bio-defense survived the transition from President Barack Obama to Trump in 2017.
Trumps elimination of the office suggested, along with his proposed budget cuts for the CDC, that he did not see the threat of pandemics in the same way that many experts in the field did.
One year later I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like COVID-19, Beth Cameron, the first director of the unit, wrote in an op-ed Friday in The Washington Post.
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Canceling Scientific Research Grant Citing Racist Conspiracy Theory
The National Institutes of Health canceled a longstanding grant to a New York health research organization studying coronaviruses in partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The decision came after President Trump said, We will end that grant very quickly in a press conference.
President Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the novel coronavirus was created or released by the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior administration officials have repeated the presidents claim, also without evidence and despite contrary statements by the director of national intelligence, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the World Health Organization.
President Trumps attempts to blame China for the Covid-19 pandemic, which include referring to the disease as kung flu and blocking a Group of Seven statement that did not refer to the virus as the Wuhan virus, have stoked racial animus against Asian Americans. Monitors have recorded a surge of racist attacks and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
Seventy-seven U.S. Nobel laureates and a wide range of professional scientific societies have condemned the Trump administrations decision to cancel the coronavirus research grant and called for a review.
Attempting To Politicize And Bypass The Food And Drug Administrations Vaccine Guidelines
The Trump administration has sought to control vaccine guidance issued by the Food and Drug Administration a customarily apolitical scientific regulator tasked with certifying the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, medications, and other medical treatments and technologies.
As catalogued above, President Trump pressured the FDA to grant emergency authorization for blood plasma treatment the day before the Republican National Convention started, despite government scientists concern about a lack of clinical trial evidence of the treatments effectiveness.
Additionally, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced a new policy barring the FDA and other agencies from issuing any new rules regarding medical treatments or other products, instead reserving that power for himself. The change undermines the FDAs ability to make science-based decisions and may further politicize future vaccine guidance. The administration also blocked Dr. Hahn from testifying before the House of Representatives .
The Trump administrations efforts to politicize and undermine vaccine safety measures are especially damaging given the administrations 2019 decision to close down the National Vaccine Program Office a government body tasked with monitoring the safety of vaccines.
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Rumor: Is Fema Deploying The Military
Fact: The Department of Defense traditionally supports FEMA disaster response through Defense Support to Civil Authorities, which is the process through which U.S. military assets and personnel can assist in missions normally carried out by civilian jurisdictions. Military forces support FEMA disaster response only when state, tribal, or territorial authorities request federal assistance, when all other state, federal, and partner resources are exhausted, and only when the use of military forces is legal, proper, and has no adverse effects on military readiness.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved 1,110 active duty troops on February 5 and an additional 3,610 active duty troops on February 12 FEMA will be partnering with the Department of Defense for additional resources at vaccination centers throughout the country.
Since last year, DOD has supported the COVID-19 response by providing aviation support and help in distributing personal protective equipment from federal stockpiles. DOD also deployed medical teams to support hospital staffs throughout the country.
Rumor: If I’m Vaccinated Should I Continue To Wear A Mask And Social Distance
Fact: Even if youre vaccinated, it is possible that you might still get COVID-19 and pass it on to those who are unvaccinated.
Until experts understand more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions, you should continue to follow CDC recommendations on how to protect yourself and others from getting the virus.
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Requiring Food Relief Program To Disseminate Letters From The President Claiming Credit For It In Lead
President Trump has used a federal food relief program as an opportunity to promote himself in the lead-up to the presidential election, a move that has program partners concerned that they may be forced to engage in improper political activity.
Millions of Americans have faced food insecurity due to the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, with some studies estimating almost a quarter of American households have been struggling to afford sufficient food.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the distribution of food relief packages to people in need through its Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed into law on March 18, 2020 the USDAs Agricultural Marketing Service partners with local, regional, and national distributors that package the food boxes, then bring them to food banks and other nonprofit organizations serving those in need. The four billion dollar program has distributed more than 100 million boxes since it launched this May.
In late September, the USDA began requiring that government-contracted vendors include letters from President Trump in which he takes credit for the program in boxes they distributed. Some nonprofit leaders charged with disseminating the letter feared that distributing or removing the letters could be viewed as a political endorsement in violation of their organizations obligation to remain nonpartisan to maintain tax-exempt status under federal law.
Trump Organization Seeking Benefits From Trump Administration And Foreign Governments
The presidents failure to divest from his business interests has created myriad ethical issues throughout his time in office, including in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. As the hospitality industry struggles, the Trump Organization has sought relief from both the federal government and from the British and Irish governments the latter for employees wages at the companys golf courses overseas. In particular, the Trump Organization sought a break on rental payments for the Washington, DC Trump Hotel from the General Services Administration, the federal agency with which the Trump Organization has a lease for the hotel. This puts the federal agency in a bind: denying the request could invoke the ire of the president, who appoints its leader, while accommodating the request would raise concerns that the decision was motivated by the presidents financial interests.
President Trump has also demanded that Congress include money for a new downtown FBI headquarters in a coronavirus relief bill. By ensuring the FBI does not move to a suburban campus instead, the measure would protect the Trump Hotel from possible competition from a proposed new hotel on the site of the FBI building a longstanding concern of the president.
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Vice Presidents Chief Of Staffs Finances Posing Conflicts Of Interest With Covid
The vice presidents chief of staff, Marc Short, owns up to $1.64 million worth of stock in companies whose work directly impacts the White Houses coronavirus response, according to a financial disclosure report certified by the Office of Government Ethics . Many of these companies produce drugs, medical supplies, and tests that are used or promoted by the White House.
Federal officials are required to divest from their financial holdings or recuse themselves from ethically compromising decisions. Short sought a certificate of divestiture from OGE, which would grant him a tax break upon divesting from the stock. However, OGE rejected his application for the tax break because Short might not be able to divest from all of the relevant stock, some of which is held in family trusts. Without the approval of the tax break, Short has refused to divest from any of the potentially conflicting stock. Moreover, rather than recusing himself, Short has been heavily involved in setting the agenda for the governments coronavirus response including by reportedly spearheading Jared Kushners shadow coronavirus task force. Short may be violating criminal conflict of interest law because he stands to gain financially from policy decisions in which he has participated.
Personnel Leading The Response To Pandemic With Ties To Healthcare Industry
Several Trump administration officials managing the crisis have ongoing conflicts of interest. For example, the presidents vaccine chief, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, has ties to pharmaceutical interests. Dr. Slaoui is a contractor and therefore exempt from federal disclosure rules that could reveal his potential conflicts. Although Slaoui pledged to donate any increase in the value of his investments to the National Institutes of Health, his contract states he does not have to do so until after the deaths of both Dr. Slaoui and his wife. Other top advisers on the governments vaccine development project also hold stock in companies developing coronavirus treatments and vaccines that have received millions of dollars in government contracts.
Likewise, President Trumps son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner has an investment in a health insurance company that the administration engaged to create a government website for coronavirus testing, raising potential legal issues. Additionally, the fact that the president and some of his personal associates and political donors have financial interests in the manufacture of the antimalarial drugs that the president has touted, despite a lack of evidence of their effectiveness in treating Covid-19, raises at least the appearance of conflicts of interest.
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Other Trump Policies Could Impact The Pandemic
In the background of all of this, the Trump administration has continued to push for several policies that, while not obviously related to the coronavirus, experts caution could have a negative impact on the pandemic.
For one, Trump has continued pushing for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as well as efforts to reel back Medicaid with work requirements. With the outbreak growing, the USs lack of universal health care has become an even more obvious problem: If people cant get testing, theyre less likely to find out they have Covid-19 and take precautions to avoid spreading the virus. If they cant get treatment in case of complications, theyre more likely to suffer, potentially spread the disease, and die.
The Trump administration seems aware of this problem, working with insurers to eliminate copayments for testing, stop surprise medical billing, and help expand coverage related to the coronavirus. But in many ways, the administration is working against problems that its also helping create by pushing to worsen access to health care.
The pandemic is bringing to the fore the underlying challenges that we have in our health and social support system in the United States, Kates said.
The Trump administration, for its part, appears to understand part of the problem here. He has signed a bill thats providing economic relief to affected workers and Covid-19 patients including paid leave, more food aid, and free testing with more to come.
How Trump Gutted Obamas Pandemic
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When the first reported cases of Ebola in Guinea came to light in March 2014, it set off a mad scramble inside the Obama White House to track and contain the spread of the virus, which killed around 50% of the people it infected. Though not nearly as contagious as the current coronavirus, an epidemic, or even a pandemic, seemed possible if the disease werent confined to its West African redoubts. The Obama White House had clear protocols and chains of command for these kinds of threats. The way to stop the forest fire is to isolate the embers, Beth Cameron, a former civil servant who ran the White Houses National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, told me. Cameron and her colleagues quickly drew up a memo to Susan Rice, the national-security adviser, and Lisa Monaco, the homeland-security adviser, outlining what was known about the outbreak, setting off a chain of action that went up through the Oval Office, then spread through the government.
In the summer of 2018, on John Boltons watch, the team Cameron once ran was one of three directorates merged into one amid an overhaul and streamlining of Donald Trumps National Security Council. And the position Monaco previously held, homeland-security adviser, was downgraded, stripped of its authority to convene the cabinet.
Vanity Fair
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The Truth About The Charge That Trump Eliminated White House Pandemic Office Before Coronavirus
President Donald Trump stresses “15 days to slow the spread” during Monday’s daily briefing at the White House on the coronavirus pandemic.
A chief line of attack during the coronavirus crisis from former Obama administration officials and leading Democrats is that President Donald Trump shut down a White House office on pandemics that might have stopped COVID-19 from spreadingor at least alleviated the threat.
The attack is based on a 2018 decision by then-national security adviser John Bolton to reorganize the White Houses National Security Council.
But the top National Security Council official at the time of the change stressed that no office was closed.
We consolidated three directorates into one, Tim Morrison, former senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense on the NSC, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. This eliminated layers in the reporting chain and in the accountability chain.
The National Security Council is made up of officials detailed from other agencies, primarily the Defense Department and the State Department. Part of the NSCs mission is to identify emerging threats and inform the president and Cabinet officials about options.
The accusation that Trump got rid of a pandemic office is among the lefts politicized attacks on the White House since the coronavirus outbreak began. The administration assembled a coronavirus task force run by Vice President Mike Pence to address security and medical issues.
Rumor: I Got A Call Text Or Email Saying I Could Get Financial Help Is It Legitimate
Fact: There have been reports that scammers are pretending to be the government, contacting people by robocall, text message, email and other outreach. These scammers say they can get people financial help during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then ask for money or personal information, like your Social Security, bank account or credit card number. This is a SCAM.
Dont trust anyone who offers financial help and then asks for money or personal information. Federal and local disaster workers do not solicit or accept money. The Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control staff never charge for disaster assistance. Do not disclose information to any unsolicited telephone calls and e-mails from individuals claiming to be IRS or Department of Treasury employees. The first form of communications from the IRS is by mail.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission scams page for tips to help you avoid scams online, on the phone, by text and through email. If you see a scam, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission.
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