The White House will block Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying before the House of Representatives next week.
“The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next week’s Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response. We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying,” House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander said.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said, “While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings. We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany explained in an interview with Fox, “When we pressed for details as to why Dr. Fauci in particular was the right person for the testimony and this hearing, those details were never provided,” adding later that the administration wanted to make sure the “subject matter of the hearing matched the individual they’re requesting.”
Fauci is expected to testify in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on May 12 despite not being allowed to testify in the House.
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