#klain

Back in 2014, in response to the Ebola epidemic, the Obama administration set up the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council, to coordinate government-wide pandemic preparedness and response, and set up another permanent epidemic monitoring and command group in the Department of Homeland Security.

In December of 2016, Congress passed, and President Obama signed, a law requiring the executive branch to “develop a national biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan.” (6 U.S.C. § 104.) The deadline was March 1, 2017, with annual reports thereafter. The Trump administration did not comply with the new law. (After all, that black guy signed it, so it doesn’t count!)

In July of 2017, White House national security advisor Tom Bossert proudly announced that the Trump administration was “developing the first comprehensive strategy to defend the United States against disease pandemics and biological attacks by terrorists.” Just as if no one before Trump had ever thought of doing such a thing.

In November of 2017, Trump defended his failure to nominate anyone to fill numerous vacant positions in his administration by contending that nobody but he himself mattered anyway.

“Let me tell you, the one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”

In February of 2018, Trump cut the CDC’s budget for dealing with global health issues by 80%.

In April of 2018, Trump’s new Chief of Staff, John Bolton, demanded Bossert’s resignation. Bossert’s job included “coordinating the response to global pandemics.” Neither he nor his team was ever replaced.

In May of 2018, Trump eliminated the NSC’s entire Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense, and removed its director, retired Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, from the NSC altogether. The administration called it a move to “streamline” the NSC. Again, neither Ziemer nor his team was ever replaced.

In March of 2020, when all this came back to haunt Donald “I’m the only one that matters” Trump, he insisted that he personally knew nothing about and had nothing to do with any of this.