Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 18, 2021. (Photo by ANNA MONEYMAKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 3:15 PM PT – Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Republicans are demanding answers from the CDC over reports, which suggested teachers’ unions influenced school re-opening guidelines rather than hard science. On Wednesday, House GOP leaders reportedly penned a letter to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, calling for her to respond to those reports.
This came after the New York Post reported on emails over the weekend, which suggested the “American Federation of Teachers” lobbied the CDC to maintain lockdowns. On Tuesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki denied there was anything unusual about the exchange by calling it “standard practice.”
“It’s actually a longstanding best practice for the CDC to engage with organizations and groups that are going to be impacted by guidance and recommendations issued by the agency,” Psaki said. “It doesn’t mean they are taking everything they want or even a percentage of what they want, but it’s important to understand the implementation components.”
However, Republicans said there’s evidence the CDC has not been forthcoming about its ties with the teachers’ unions and they are worried the agency has become overly politicized.
