{"id":65487,"date":"2021-05-16T14:15:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-16T18:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=65487"},"modified":"2021-05-16T14:15:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T18:15:44","slug":"why-did-the-cdc-keep-the-biden-administration-in-the-dark-about-the-mask-guidance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=65487","title":{"rendered":"Why did the CDC keep the Biden Administration in the dark about the mask guidance?"},"content":{"rendered":"

POLITICO Playbook: How the White House found out about the new mask guidance<\/h1>\n

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\u00a0President Joe Biden was informed on Thursday morning that the CDC announcement was coming \u2014 just hours ahead of time \u2014 according to a senior White House source. | Evan Vucci\/AP Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

By EUGENE DANIEL
\nPOLITICO<\/p>\n

Happy Saturday<\/b>\u00a0\u2014 the first one when those of us who are vaccinated can gallivant around, mask-free, (almost) anywhere our hearts desire.<\/p>\n

HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FOUND OUT \u2014\u00a0<\/b>The CDC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

And it turns out the White House barely got any notice.<\/b><\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening<\/b>, a small huddle of senior White House aides were told about the CDC\u2019s decision. President\u00a0JOE BIDEN<\/b>\u00a0was informed on Thursday morning that the announcement was coming \u2014 just hours ahead of time \u2014 according to a senior White House source.<\/p>\n

But most staffers found out\u00a0<\/b>on Thursday, after a scoop from the AP, according to White House sources, and didn\u2019t receive an official WH email about it until after the CDC\u2019s Covid-19 briefing.\u00a0<\/b>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 \u201c[o]ther changes will follow as implemented by the CDC.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i>The information wasn’t widely shared\u00a0<\/b>before the CDC announcement because it was their decision to make, not ours,\u201d an administration official told me.<\/p>\n

For a White House that prides itself on its discipline<\/b>\u00a0in sticking to a schedule and message, the speed of the turnaround was head-spinning. CDC Director\u00a0ROCHELLE WALENSKY\u00a0<\/b>told the public she was \u201cscared\u201d about rising cases and alluded to a sense of \u201cimpending doom\u201d 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.<\/p>\n