THE WHITE HOUSE LOST ROMNEY — Sen. Mitt Romney , once seen by the White House as a partner in the push for more coronavirus relief funding, is accusing the administration of misrepresenting its financial situation. What’s new: The Biden administration reallocated $10 billion toward vaccine and therapeutic purchases earlier this month, roughly what it had requested from Congress, Adam writes. White House officials had maintained they couldn’t do that, Romney said in a Thursday Senate HELP Committee hearing. “Imagine my surprise,” he said, adding that the move “makes our ability to work together and have confidence in what we’re being told very much shaken to the core.” Covid-19 relief is in (even more) jeopardy. Romney later told reporters that given the “misdirection,” the prospect of any Covid funding passing now “would have very long odds.” The White House responds. The administration has “hosted countless briefings, conference calls, and shared more than a dozen funding tables,” all of which give Congress “a full accounting of every dollar that’s been spent and allocated on the Covid medical response and a full accounting of the entire American Rescue Plan,” an administration official said. The official added that the funds the administration reallocated this month don’t alleviate the need for more money: “Covid is not over, and we risk even more severe and lethal consequences for the American people if we do not secure this funding.” FAUCI BATTLES PAUL, AGAIN — National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci appeared virtually at that committee hearing Thursday, one day after a positive Covid-19 diagnosis. And as expected, the 81-year-old infectious disease expert again sparred with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) over Covid-19 vaccines and his leadership in the response. “Are you going to let me answer a question?” Fauci quipped amid a flurry of interruptions from Paul, who is also a medical doctor. “Soundbite number one,” he added. Paul first asked Fauci whether there was direct scientific evidence that booster shots prevent hospitalization and death in all people age 5 and older, then shifted to royalties scientists from the National Institutes of Health may have received from companies, especially vaccine makers. Eventually, HELP Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) cut off the argument. The funding questions continue. Fauci appeared alongside FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell to answer questions about the pandemic response but also press for more funding. Murray and other Democrats supported the request, while ranking member Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and other Republicans asked for more accountability from the agencies before they approve any more funding, our Katherine Ellen Foley and Ben Leonard report. Republicans also grilled the officials about return-to-work policies while lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raised concerns about the ongoing baby formula shortage. Califf said that the latest setback — a flood at the Michigan Abbott facility earlier closed for contamination probes — shouldn’t worsen the ongoing crisis. DESANTIS DOUBLES DOWN ON KID VAX OPPOSITION — Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday railed against providing Covid-19 vaccines to young children, saying Florida will not provide state programs to administer vaccinations for toddlers or infants — the first governor to do so. “I would say we are affirmatively against the Covid vaccine for young kids,” DeSantis said at a press conference. “These are the people who have zero risk of getting anything.” While DeSantis’ administration has questioned and challenged a range of federal coronavirus policies, his latest statement speaks to the broader problem of convincing millions of parents that their youngest kids need the shots, even though federal health agencies and national health care providers urge it. Florida is the only state in the nation not to order new doses of the vaccines for children ahead of expected Food and Drug Administration authorization of two Covid vaccines for children under 5 years old, POLITICO Florida’s Arek Sarkissian writes. The state’s Department of Health is headed by Surgeon General Joe Ladapo, who is an outspoken critic of the vaccines. DeSantis stressed the state isn’t banning the vaccines, but his rhetoric — unproven, as many young children have gotten the virus — is bound to fuel parents’ hesitation as they consider immunizing their infants.
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