Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, will testify by video conference at a Senate hearing about the coronavirus next week.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander, confirmed the pair will testify remotely after deciding to self-quarantine following their potential exposure to the virus this week.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Brett Giroir, the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, are also scheduled to testify at the hearing.
Fauci is planning on attending as of now while wearing a mask, a source in Alexander’s office told CNN. If circumstances change and Fauci needs to testify remotely, the committee will accommodate that due to the unusual circumstances.
Fauci earlier told CNN’s Jake Tapper he would begin a “modified quarantine” after potential exposure as well. CNN has reached out to Alexander’s staff to see if Fauci will also testify remotely.
“I asked the White House to allow Dr. Hahn and Dr. Redfield to testify by videoconference at this important hearing which is less than three days away,” Lamar, a Republican from Tennessee, said in a statement. “I am grateful that White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, approved a one-time exception to the Administration’s policies about hearings, and has agreed that Dr. Hahn and Dr. Redfield will testify at this hearing by videoconference due to these unusual circumstances.”