Trump moved to replace a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services who wrote a wrote on the PPE shortage and testing delays.
President Trump moved on Friday night to replace a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services who angered him with a report last month highlighting supply shortages and testing delays at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
The White House waited until after business hours to announce the nomination of a new inspector general for the department who, if confirmed, would take over for Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general who was publicly assailed by the president at a news briefing three weeks ago.
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The message being sent is clear. Anyone in the Executive Branch who upholds their duty to report facts and Trump’s failings to the American people will lose their job. Trump has already fired the top official leading the federal coronavirus vaccine effort because he disagreed with spending federal money on the dangerous and unproven malaria drug as a treatment for the virus.
Trump doesn’t want people to be well informed about the public health crisis. He expects the economy to reopen and everything to go back to normal, while his administration pretends like the coronavirus is gone.
Donald Trump has endangered public health in numerous ways during this crisis, but the firing of top health officials for telling the truth has the potential for deadly long-term consequences.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
