FEMA administrator testifies before Congress on nation’s coronavirus response

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The nation’s top emergency official testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday on the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor is scheduled to testify about the nation’s ability and supplies needed to fight Covid-19 and other outbreaks. From the beginning of the pandemic, the U.S. faced shortages in vital Covid-19 testing materials and personal protective equipment for health workers across the country.

The committee said it asked officials from the Department of Health and Human Services to join the hearing, but the Trump administration wouldn’t allow them to testify, according to the statement.

According to Gaynor’s written testimony, he plans to tell the committee that the White House Coronavirus Task Force directed FEMA to move “from playing a supporting role in assisting the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, which was designated as the initial lead federal agency for the COVID-19 pandemic response, to coordinating the Whole-of Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic” in mid-March.

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