The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue additional guidance next week on reopening schools, Vice President Pence said Wednesday, hours after President Trump …
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will issue additional guidance next week on reopening schools, Vice President Pence said Wednesday, hours after President Trump criticized the agency’s current guidelines as “very tough and expensive.”
Pence appeared to frame the upcoming guidance as a response to Trump’s criticisms, saying they would offer “more clarity.” But just a day earlier he had said the CDC would be releasing additional guidelines on school openings that would address face coverings, symptom screening, school settings and “decision-making tools” for parents and caregivers.
“Well, the president said today, we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough,” Pence said at a coronavirus task force press briefing on Wednesday. “That’s the reason why next week, the CDC is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.”
Asked whether the agency would adjust its recommendations in response to Trump’s critical tweet earlier Wednesday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said officials will continue to “develop and evolve” guidance for schools.
The president threatened to cut funding to schools that don’t fully reopen this fall and complained on Twitter that compliance with the CDC’s guidelines, which are non-binding, would be “very tough and expensive.” Trump’s tweet marked the latest instance of public disagreement with his own health officials on the coronavirus and underscored how the federal government has struggled to offer a clear message throughout the pandemic.
The broadside from Trump was even more puzzling since state and local officials will be the ones making final decisions on whether to allow in-person learning.
“None of the CDC’s recommendations are intended to replace state and local rules and guidance,” Pence told reporters at the coronavirus task force briefing, which was held at the Department of Education instead of the White House.
Redfield echoed Pence’s remarks afterward, saying: “The purpose of CDC guidance is — remember it’s guidance, not requirements — and its purpose is to facilitate the reopening and the keeping open of schools in this country.
