E&C Republicans Press CDC for Information Related to Reorganization Plan

Press Release

"As you have publicly acknowledged, the CDC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic response has been widely criticized. From early pandemic test kit failures to the revelation that teachers' unions were provided an opportunity to opine on and revise the CDC's school reopening guidance, the CDC committed multiple unforced errors during the COVID-19 response. More recently, the CDC's insistence that children as young as three years old continue to receive COVID-19 shots and wear masks has made it an outlier among global public health agencies. In short, CDC has lost the American people's trust."

"The CDC must provide the Committee with more than a cursory, summarized overview of the findings of the Moving Forward Initiative before the Committee can even begin to consider the agency's request for additional authority. According to principles for government reorganization recommended by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress "has an important role to play in both its legislative and oversight capacities in establishing, monitoring, and maintaining both governmentwide and agency-specific management reforms.' This Committee has serious reservations regarding CDC's approach to public engagement, stakeholder outreach, and information gathering during the Moving Forward Initiative. The CDC has been rightly criticized in the past for its insular culture and lack of transparency. To restore public trust and implement effective reforms, the agency must be more forthcoming to this Committee, Congress, and the American people."

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