GAO to Investigate Alleged Trump Administration Interference With FDA, CDC

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Monday agreed to begin looking into allegations that the Trump administration exerted political pressure on the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to influence pandemic-related policies, following a request by three Democrat senators.

In a response to Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the watchdog agency said the lawmakers’ request — to investigate whether the FDA’s and CDC’s scientific integrity and communications policies were violated during the pandemic and if they are being implemented as intended — fell within its scope. The GAO agreed to conduct a probe that will likely start in January, according to a GAO spokesperson.

“The GAO's decision to conduct an independent audit is a good first step toward making sure that guidance coming from federal agencies is based on science and facts, not on the Trump administration's political agenda or the president's whims," said the lawmakers. "Health and science experts should be able to do their jobs to steer us through crises like this pandemic without political interference.”

In an Oct. 8 letter to the GAO requesting an investigation, the three Democrats cited concerns about the White House’s holdup of stricter FDA guidelines for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of COVID-19 vaccines as well as the president’s repeated claims that a vaccine would be cleared by Nov. 3. Additionally, they cited reports that showed HHS officials allegedly modified weekly CDC reports about the pandemic and that the CDC was pressured into downplaying the risks of children returning to school.

The lawmakers also claimed that the White House Coronavirus Task Force and political appointees at HHS published guidance to the CDC’s website without CDC input that said asymptomatic patients do not need to be tested even after exposure to the virus, guidance that was later reversed.

The White House did not immediately respond for comment regarding the investigation. — James Miessler