TRUMP THREATENS TO NIX FDA PLAN FOR STRICTER APPROVAL PROCESS

President Trump said that the White House “may or may not” approve new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines requiring outside experts to weigh in before the agency approves a COVID vaccine and claimed the plan “sounds like a political move,” undercutting government scientists who had said the opposite just hours earlier, the New York Times reported.

At Wednesday’s Senate hearing, the doctors — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Admiral Brett P. Giroir, the coronavirus testing czar — defended the scientific integrity of the FDA amid mounting evidence that Trump and his men have interfered with their agencies’ decision-making and growing public doubts about a coronavirus vaccine.

The officials told the panel that they had complete faith in the agency and that science and data — not politics — were guiding its decisions. Their testimony came as the FDA prepared to issue stricter guidelines for the emergency authorization of any new coronavirus vaccine. That would add a new layer to the vetting process.

But Mr. Trump has insisted a vaccine may be ready as early as next month — and he sounded more than a little skeptical about the new guidelines. “That has to be approved by the White House,” he said, adding, “We may or may not approve it.” The president then said, “I think that was a political move more than anything else.” Trump’s adviser on the COVID pandemic is Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist.

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