Mike Pence: ‘Preliminary Talks’ to Shut Down Coronavirus Task Force by Late May

[mystery-ak]

Charlie Spiering 5 May 2020

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said the White House was having “preliminary talks” about disbanding the coronavirus task force by Memorial Day or early June.

Pence spoke about this development to a group of reporters, including Breitbart News, at his office at the White House.

“I think we’re having conversations about that, and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work,” Pence said. “And for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency by agency level.”

Pence said that the White House was discussing a transition with FEMA and other agencies for a task force turnover in late May or early June, suggesting that Memorial Day weekend would be a possibility.

“It really is all a reflection of the tremendous progress that we’ve made as a country,” he said.

Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx would remain working at the White House, Pence said.

“We’re going to keep Dr. Deb Birx around every bit as long as we need to,” Pence said.

Birx said she would continue to monitor the trends of the virus in the country.

“We’ll still keep a close eye on the data,” Birx said. “Because we have very good data now, it took us a while to build that capacity and we’ll make sure that we’re watching that at a federal level.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/05/coronavirus-task-force-late-may-shut-down-june-13325022/

[jmyrlefuller]

I don't always agree with Birx but she's been miles more tolerable than Fauci.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Pence confirms coronavirus task force winding down — but they forgot to tell Fauci
NY Post, May 5, 2020

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence has confirmed the White House coronavirus task force will begin winding down later this month.

Confirming a New York Times report published earlier in the day, Pence told reporters Tuesday that his goal was to start handing responsibility back to various government agencies by the May 25 Memorial Day weekend as the administration looks to reopen the country.

“I think we’re starting to look at the Memorial Day window, early June window as a time when we could begin to transition back to having our agencies begin to manage — begin to manage our national response in a more traditional manner,” Pence said.

The Times report said White House officials informed members of the task force that they plan to finish the operation in coming weeks and that there won’t necessarily be a group to replace their efforts.

But it appears the administration forgot to include Dr. Anthony Fauci in the discussions, with the group’s respected infectious disease expert telling CBS on Tuesday that he’d heard no such thing.

Fauci — the highly respected director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — was asked about the report in a CBS interview that went to air just as Pence confirmed the news to reporters.

He hadn’t heard anything about it, he said.

“That’s not true, I’ve been in every task force meeting, and that’s not what they are doing,” Fauci told reporter Paula Reid.

Pence said the decision to phase-out the task force, established in January, was “a reflection of the tremendous progress we’ve made as a country.”

More:    https://nypost.com/2020/05/05/mike-pence-confirms-coronavirus-task-force-will-wrap-up-this-month/ 

Feeling left out, are you Dr. Fauci?

[mountaineer]

Fauci seems to have had a lot of time on his hands throughout this "crisis."

Why Chris Cuomo got daily calls from Anthony Fauci while fighting coronavirus
By Tamar Lapin
May 5, 2020 | 6:18pm

Dr. Anthony Fauci called Chris Cuomo daily as the CNN anchor and his family battled the coronavirus.

“I have spoken to you, almost without exception, every day. And you have been calling me out of personal concern to make sure that I’m OK, that my wife was OK, my son was OK,” Cuomo said to Fauci on his primetime show Monday.

The Brooklyn-born infectious diseases expert said he has known Cuomo, the younger brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, since he “was almost a kid.”

“The fact is, you were going through some difficult times,” Fauci said, explaining why he was in constant contact with Cuomo. ...

New York Post

[Right_in_Virginia]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

The White House CoronaVirus Task Force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future. Ventilators, which were few & in bad shape, are now being....

...produced in the thousands, and we have many to spare. We are helping other countries which are desperate for them. Likewise, after having been left little, we are now doing more testing than all other countries combined, and with superior tests. Face masks & shields,....

....gloves, gowns etc. are now plentiful. The last four Governors teleconference calls have been conclusively strong. Because of this success, the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. We may add or subtract people ....

....to it, as appropriate. The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics. Thank you!


9:06 AM · May 6, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1258020179692445697