POLITICO Playbook: How the White House found out about the new mask guidance
President Joe Biden was informed on Thursday morning that the CDC announcement was coming — just hours ahead of time — according to a senior White House source. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
By EUGENE DANIEL
POLITICO
Happy Saturday — the first one when those of us who are vaccinated can gallivant around, mask-free, (almost) anywhere our hearts desire.
HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FOUND OUT — The CDC’s surprise decision this week to drop its recommendation that vaccinated Americans wear masks in public spaces was the best news some of us have received in months.
And it turns out the White House barely got any notice.
On Wednesday evening, a small huddle of senior White House aides were told about the CDC’s decision. President JOE BIDEN was informed on Thursday morning that the announcement was coming — just hours ahead of time — according to a senior White House source.
But most staffers found out on Thursday, after a scoop from the AP, according to White House sources, and didn’t receive an official WH email about it until after the CDC’s Covid-19 briefing. That email, which a source read me over the phone, announced that masks were no longer required on White House grounds for fully vaccinated people, and promised that “[o]ther changes will follow as implemented by the CDC.”
“The information wasn’t widely shared before the CDC announcement because it was their decision to make, not ours,” an administration official told me.
For a White House that prides itself on its discipline in sticking to a schedule and message, the speed of the turnaround was head-spinning. CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY told the public she was “scared” about rising cases and alluded to a sense of “impending doom” less than two months ago; the updated guidance that fully vaccinated Americans were free to walk outside, sans mask, came less than three weeks ago.
While jarring, the change is obviously welcome. If you talk to administration officials, they say this will serve as an incentive for the unvaccinated to run out and get their shots.