Trump is ‘sitting’ on $9 billion earmarked for COVID-19 testing because of a controversial advisor, new report reveals

• The Trump administration has not spent $9 billion in funding for COVID-19 testing due to opposition from Scott Atlas, an advisor on the White House coronavirus task force, per a Washington Post report.
• Atlas is not an infectious disease expert and has emerged as perhaps the most controversial advisor on the task force by promoting ideas in line with Trump’s anti-science approach to the pandemic.
• “We’re demanding that the feds release … those dollars,” Senate Minority Leader Schumer said on Sunday, urging the Trump administration to commit to a “robust testing and tracing program.”
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The Trump administration has yet to spend $9 billion allocated by Congress for COVID-19 testing due to a controversial advisor who has garnered significant influence over the White House’s pandemic response, according to a Washington Post report based on interviews with 41 administration officials, advisors to the president, public health leaders, and others.

Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who is not an expert on infectious disease, has taken a fervent stance against expanded testing, per the Post report, in contrast to the advice of top experts on the White House coronavirus task force such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday decried the Trump administration, and more specifically the Department of Health and Human Services, for “sitting” on the $9 billion in funding for testing and tracing. 

“We’re demanding that the feds release … those dollars,” Schumer said, calling on the Trump administration to commit to a “robust testing and tracing program.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. 

—Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) October 18, 2020

Atlas, a healthcare-policy expert who works at the Hoover Institute, a conservative think tank at Stanford University, has quickly consolidated influence on the task force in recent months by advocating strategies that are more in line with the president’s rejection of harsh restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus. 

He’s reportedly pushed hard for a herd immunity approach to the pandemic, which occurs when enough of a population develops resistance to a disease, whether through exposure or through a vaccine, to interrupt the virus’ spread.  Top experts have warned that allowing COVID-19 to spread through the country unchecked could lead to half a million US deaths from the virus, which has killed nearly 220,000 Americans as of Monday afternoon. 

Atlas, who was tapped by Trump to join the task force in August after repeated appearances on Fox News, in a statement to the Washington Post rejected the notion he’s advocated a herd immunity strategy, but multiple reports suggest otherwise.

Over the weekend, Twitter removed a tweet from Atlas that misleadingly told the public that face masks don’t help to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Trump has also pushed against wearing masks or face-coverings, contradicting his advisers and a mountain of evidence that masks are a vital tool in preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

Atlas’ presence on the coronavirus task force has created tension within the unit and seen top advisors like Fauci and Birx increasingly sidelined, according to the Post. This is seemingly linked to the fact they provide advice to Trump that runs counter to his political goals. Atlas has also challenged the analysis of Birx and other top officials with “junk science,” three senior administration officials told the Post. 

The president on Monday attacked Fauci during a campaign call and referred to him as a “disaster,” CNN reported.

“If I listened to him, we’d have 500,000 deaths,” Trump reportedly said, adding: “People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.”

A few hours later, Trump also mocked the infectious disease expert’s baseball skills on Twitter.

“Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals’ Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing,” the president tweeted. “Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!”

Trump, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in early October and subsequently hospitalized, has taken an anti-science approach to the pandemic. Top public health experts have pointed to this haphazard and lackluster response as a key factor in the US outbreak spiraling out of control. There have been over 8.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins University.