U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M) joined 19 Senate Democrats in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to express their concern regarding reports of political influence at HHS, demand more information on staffing issues related to the COVID-19 response efforts, and ask whether staff turmoil and turnover is hindering HHS’ work.
The senators’ letter follows reports about the removal of Dr. Rick Bright as Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) earlier this month after Dr. Bright reportedly questioned the Trump administration’s public promotion of untested and unproven treatments for the novel coronavirus.
According to the reports, Dr. Bright was removed from the position in retaliation for his insistence that treatments being touted by the Trump administration be scientifically tested. The senators also raised concerns regarding several other troubling issues—including one incident where a senior Health Department official faced reassignment for raising concerns about the lack of protections for Department staff receiving passengers repatriated from Wuhan, China, and another where someone with no public health, management, or medical experience was given a key leadership position in the COVID-19 response efforts.
The letter also cited several occasions where senior health officials were contradicted or limited from conveying information to the public. These instances seem to indicate a troubling trend where senior officials are forced to choose between letting political concerns or objective science drive the administration’s COVID-19 response.
The senators wrote, “We write to raise concerns about reports of political interference in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and whether turmoil and staff turnover are hindering your agency’s work. Recent reports about the demotion of the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) again raise concerns about whether political and ideological influence instead of public health and scientific expertise are driving decisions at the Department and across the federal government.”
The senators continued, “In the midst of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of the utmost importance that there be stable leadership within HHS and that decisions are driven by science and the public health. Any leadership changes being made at this time should be executed only to the extent necessary to ensure the Department and its employees are best positioned for the COVID-19 response. Our response to this crisis cannot be steady if its leadership is being constantly shuffled and if experts are being constrained or removed when they insist on following the science and sticking to the facts.”
The letter was co-signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Brian Schatz (D-HIawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
Read the full text of the letter HERE.
