Fauci will testify before the COVID-19 panel of the United States Chamber after being blocked by the White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s leading infectious disease expert, will testify Friday before a coronavirus subcommittee in Congress, weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration refused to allow him to speak. to the panel.

Fauci’s testimony comes at the end of a week when the tragic number of pandemic victims in the country has become much clearer. The United States experienced the 150,000th death of the disease on Wednesday, more than any other country, and Thursday’s data show a deep economic downturn.

Democrats said the Trump administration initially blocked Fauci from testifying before the panel saying it was unavailable for the entire month of July and relented only after House Majority Whip James Clyburn wrote to Vice President Mike Pence.

A veteran of six Republican and Democratic administrations, Fauci has become the most familiar face of the administration’s special coronavirus force.

This week, Trump, who has often been angry at the advice of scientists to respond to the pandemic, lamented the extent to which Fauci is admired and said, “No one likes me.” It can only be my personality.

Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, are also scheduled to testify before the Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus crisis.

Led by Clyburn, the subcommittee was created this year to monitor the billions of dollars passed by Congress to help the United States weather the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, Trump retweeted a post accusing Fauci and Democrats of suppressing the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat the new coronavirus, which included a link to a video of a group dismissing the need for face masks amid the pandemic. The tweet was removed by social media companies.