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Democrats were quick to condemn the Trump administration Tuesday following comments from Vice President Mike Pence that the White House is in talks to potentially wind down its coronavirus task force, transferring its responsibilities to agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as early as Memorial Day or early June.
An official told Fox News that the members of the task force will continue to provide input, but the group will not be meeting as regularly as they had been at the outset of the pandemic. The official added that the White House’s focus was shifting toward vaccines, therapeutics, testing and reopening the economy.
The voices panning the Trump administration’s decision to work on transferring the task force’s responsibilities came from governors’ offices, activists and some members of Congress.
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“It is unthinkable that President Trump would shut down the main task force established to coordinate our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic while we are still in the midst of figuring out the health and economic implications of this pandemic,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. ” It is a shameful abdication of responsibility.”
Hoyer accused the president of downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus, blamed him for armed protesters showing up at state Capitols and said decisions like this one from the Trump administration are “exactly why the House established a select committee to oversee federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Trump last week refused to let Dr. Anthony Fauci testify in front of a different House committee because, the president said later, they are “a bunch of Trump haters.” But he has said Fauci would testify to the Senate.
On the Senate side, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the Trump administration’s decision a “tragedy.”
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“At a time when his own administration is predicting a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, our ‘stable genius’ president is winding down his coronavirus task force,” the self-declared democratic socialist said. “This is a true American tragedy. Thousands will unnecessarily die because of Trump’s contempt for science.”
The White House, however, pushed back against comments that indicated the administration was limiting the involvement of medical professionals in the coronavirus response.
“Reporting on the task force is being misconstrued to suggest the White House is no longer involving medical experts. This is totally false,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a tweet. “President @realdonaldtrump will continue his data-driven approach towards safely re-opening.”
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Another White House official added that the task force was never meant to be permanent.
“Members of the task force will continue providing input, though the group will not be meeting as regularly as the focus changes toward vaccines, therapeutics, testing, and ultimately re-opening the economy,” the official said. “Keep in mind the task force was always a temporary arrangement. Health experts will continue providing input even while not meeting together every day.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has at times been complimentary of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, in an interview with his brother Chris on CNN took a more critical tone. Specifically, he said the move to roll back the task force was emblematic of wishful thinking the Trump administration has had in its response to the pandemic from the very beginning.
“This entire situation has been an inconvenience and a disruption, they want it over. And they want to proclaim it over. They’ve been looking to proclaim it over from day one,” he said. “They went to great lengths initially to minimize it, it then became undeniable, they dealt with it and then left it to the states, but they want it over, that is clear.”
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“But the virus doesn’t care,” Cuomo continued. “The virus doesn’t listen… People will die, those numbers will go up, and that is going to be undeniable.”
The criticism also came from outside the government. Liberal activist Scott Dworkin said Trump is ending the task force during “the height of the pandemic” because “he’s a sociopath.” Former Republican House member and Trump 2020 primary challenger Joe Walsh responded with a hint of sarcasm.
“Come on, who hasn’t shut down a pandemic task force in the middle of a pandemic?” Walsh asked.
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The president himself defended the talks of winding down the task force on Tuesday during a visit to a mask production facility in Arizona. He said his advisers were looking “very closely” at the coronavirus and would continue to, and said, “We can’t keep our country closed for the next five years… We’ve learned a lot about the coronavirus.”
Trump also denied that his message with the move was “mission accomplished.”
Fox News Brooke Singman and John Roberts contributed to this report.
