Lawmakers investigate White House pressure on reopening of schools amid coronavirus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. secretary of education and the head of a major government health agency for correspondence with the White House to determine whether political pressure influenced new federal recommendations on whether Schools should reopen in the fall.

Public comments from Republican President Donald Trump and members of his administration made it clear that the reopening of schools was a priority and interfered with messages to the public from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they said in a Letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Andy Levin.

“The challenging decision of whether and how schools should be reopened safely for in-person instruction should be based on the best public health information and guidance available, regardless of policy,” they wrote.

Trump, who is running for reelection in November, has made clear his desire to see schools reopen in the fall so parents can return to work and help the U.S. economy recover after a shutdown caused by the pandemic of coronavirus.

After Trump criticized CDC’s guidelines this month about when and how school districts should reopen for being too difficult, impractical, and expensive, Vice President Mike Pence promised new guidelines. Last week, CDC Principal Robert Redfield released a statement supporting the reopening of schools in the fall.

The CDC also issued new documents and procedures to complement the original guidelines, intended to help administrators and parents “facilitate” the full reopening of schools. The original guidelines remain, Redfield said, but the new documents provide more detail and options for schools.

School decisions in the United States are made at the local level and federal health guidelines are recommendations, not requirements.

Repeated attempts by Trump and his administration “to insert policies into public health decision-making have created confusion, undermined confidence and unnecessarily polarized this critical issue,” Warren and Levin wrote.