Chair Clyburn Issues Statement on Senior Trump Administration Officials Leaving Roles at HHS

Washington, D.C. (September 16, 2020) — Today, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michael Caputo would be taking a leave of absence and his senior adviser, Dr. Paul Alexander, would be leaving the Department permanently:

"On Monday, my colleagues and I launched an investigation into efforts by senior Trump Administration officials to alter, delay, and block critical scientific reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of President Trump's strategy to downplay the coronavirus crisis. We requested transcribed interviews with two political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services who were at the center of these efforts—Assistant Secretary Michael Caputo and Senior Advisor Paul Alexander. The Department's announcement today that both officials are leaving their roles, with Mr. Caputo taking a leave of absence and Dr. Alexander exiting the Department, is an important first step. Now, I call on the President and the rest of his Administration to commit to being straight with the American people about the dangers of the coronavirus and to ending their dangerous attempts to suppress science for political gain. I also call on the Administration to fully cooperate with the Select Subcommittee's ongoing investigation so the American people can understand exactly how political appointees interfered with CDC's work on the coronavirus, and what steps are still needed to end this interference before more Americans die needlessly."

On Monday, September 14, 2020, the Select Subcommittee wrote to HHS Secretary Azar and CDC Director Dr. Redfield following reports that HHS political appointees, including Mr. Caputo and Dr. Alexander, had interfered with CDC's scientific reports on the coronavirus.

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