Murray: “The Trump Administration Needs to Leave the Science to the Scientists, Immediately, Full Stop.”
New report details efforts from Trump Administration’s political appointees to manipulate key scientific publications from CDC experts
Murray: “By repeatedly interfering with the work of our public health agencies for political benefit, the Trump Administration is showing a dangerous disregard for truth, facts, science, and most importantly, American lives.”
Murray: “The Trump Administration needs to leave the science to the scientists, immediately, full stop.”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to recent reporting that politically appointed Trump Administration officials have been interfering with the work of health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“By repeatedly interfering with the work of our public health agencies for political benefit, the Trump Administration is showing a dangerous disregard for truth, facts, science, and most importantly, American lives. This rampant political interference—including the latest, unprecedented censoring of key CDC reports we learned of last night—is hurting our response to this pandemic and ultimately putting our nation at risk.
“The Trump Administration needs to leave the science to the scientists, immediately, full stop. No meddling, no censoring, and no whitewashing reports intended to give families, public health professionals, researchers, and health care providers what they need: the truth. The American public needs a full account of what political pressure has been applied, and of what steps agency leaders are taking to prevent it from influencing their work.
“Democrats will be demanding action to make sure we get the transparency we need to hold this Administration accountable, and I hope every single one of my Republican colleagues who have spoken about the importance of listening to the science will prove they meant it by joining us in that effort.”
Politico reported yesterday that Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Michael Caputo, a political appointee with no scientific background, and his advisors have demanded oversight of reports from CDC experts, and have worked to edit and append findings from CDC experts in its flagship scientific publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The move represents an unprecedented level of political interference in the science and data based publication, which is a key source of information for experts around the world working to understand and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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