‘Mission Accomplished’: Report of White House Considering ‘Winding Down’ Coronavirus Task Force Ignites Fury

Josh FeldmanMay 5th, 2020, 2:38 pm
 

Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The White House is considering winding down the coronavirus task force soon.

That is according to a new report in the New York Times on the Trump administration’s continued plans for addressing the pandemic:

Trump administration officials are telling members and staff of the coronavirus task force that the White House plans to wind down the operation in coming weeks despite growing evidence that the crisis is raging on…

A top adviser to Vice President Mike Pence who has helped oversee the task force, Olivia Troye, has told senior officials involved in the task force to expect the group to wind down within weeks, a notice echoed by other top White House officials. While the task force met Tuesday at the White House, Monday’s meeting was canceled, and a Saturday session, a staple of recent months, was never held.

One administration official told the Times that “the task force will be winding down as the White House moves toward Phase One of Mr. Trump’s plan to ‘open up’ the country,” adding that there’s going to be a focus on “therapeutics, vaccine development and testing.”

The report was met with a great deal of astonishment on social media, given the widespread concern about the continued pandemic:

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Josh Feldman - Senior Editor

Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac