The White House is in the early stages of winding down its coronavirus task force, Vice President Pence’s office confirmed Tuesday, a surprising decision that comes as most states are preparing to loosen restrictions meant to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Pence’s office confirmed to The Hill that the vice president told reporters at a limited briefing that his plan is to scale back the task force’s role by Memorial Day. Pence has been leading the task force since late February.
Members are likely to return to their respective departments and manage the coronavirus response from there.
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The New York Times first reported on the expected demise of the task force.
The task force, which includes nearly two dozen officials from various government agencies, has been less visible in recent weeks as President Trump and others transition their focus to the economic consequences of the pandemic.
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But the decision to formally disband the task force is sure to raise concern among public health experts who have warned the coronavirus will likely be part of life in the U.S. until there is a widely available vaccine, which could take a year or longer to develop.
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#BREAKING: White House signals it will wind down coronavirus task force https://t.co/mhkVsdpLHC pic.twitter.com/TiE2nszdXr
— The Hill (@thehill) May 5, 2020
I wonder how many drafts it took before someone said, "Let's change 'expendable' to 'warriors.'" https://t.co/d83enmgNns
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) May 5, 2020
Cool, cool https://t.co/8GVCDiVbu8
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 5, 2020
Might as well. Trump didn’t listen to its members and did his best to undermine them.
Trump just now on why he reversed himself on dissolving the WH COVID-19 taskforce:
"I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding down…It is appreciated by the public."
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) May 6, 2020
Come on, who hasn’t shut down a pandemic task force in the middle of a pandemic?
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 6, 2020
Trump is basically just taking his toys and going home just a quarter of the way through a pandemic.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 5, 2020
June, 1944. FDR to Eisenhower:
“Okay, Ike, you’re on the beaches at Normandy. You can shut it down now. Bradley, Patton, Monty, Leigh-Mallory, Ramsey…they can figure it out from here.”
— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) May 6, 2020
President Trump today walked back his plan to begin winding down the coronavirus task force.
“We're keeping the task force for a period of time. I look forward to when we can close the task force, because then the job will be essentially, hopefully, over" https://t.co/tWs8mIyEP7 pic.twitter.com/txnXgV4DLI
— POLITICO (@politico) May 6, 2020
Pro Tip: If your state signals the end of stay-at-home orders; it doesn’t mean the pandemic is over, it just means they currently have room for you in the ICU.
— YS (@NYinLA2121) May 6, 2020
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