GOP senator blocks resolution calling for CDC guidelines to be released

GOP Sen. Mike Braun (Ind.) on Wednesday blocked a resolution calling for the release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance on reopening businesses.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to pass the resolution amid reports that Trump administration officials had sidelined the document.

“The president is not a doctor. The president is not a scientist. Many don’t even believe he’s a stable genius like he thinks he is. … Anybody who would say drink bleach, use bleach to protect yourself is not much of a medical expert,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

“I wish President Trump and his aides could be trusted to tell the American people the truth about this public health crisis. … The point is that America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by President Trump or his political minions,” Schumer added.

The Associated Press reported earlier Wednesday that the guidance from the CDC on how to reopen businesses and institutions shuttered during the coronavirus outbreak was more detailed and restrictive than guidelines issued by the White House task force.

The CDC guidance, according to the AP, calls for national coordination that would give communities a step-by-step guide for how to reopen shuttered sectors and lift social distancing restrictions.

CDC Director Robert Redfield told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this week that the recommendations would be released “soon.”

Braun maintained Wednesday that Schumer was making a “faux argument” and characterized the CDC recommendations as “overly prescriptive.” 
 
“This is not about transparency. The White House is always going to be in favor of transparency. … This is about the minority leader trying to use the bureaucracy at the CDC to bog down the economy,” Braun added.