Trust in government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eroded in recent months, according to a poll from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC, told Cheddar the drop stems from the politicization of public health during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Repeatedly during this crisis, we've seen instances where the political sector has reached in and changed public health guidance from CDC," he said. "That is a real problem."
Indeed, House Democrats are currently investigating whether the Trump administration pressured CDC officials to alter or delay information on the coronavirus.
Besser said one challenge for the CDC is that it doesn't often speak with the public directly.
"There's incredibly important information coming out from the CDC every single day," he said. "Unfortunately the CDC is not in a position where they're talking to the public through the media every day to be able to lift up that information."
Once that information is politically influenced, he added, "then people have to pick and choose and say 'well is this a guidance that's science-based, or is this one that's politically based?'"
Bessner described trust as one of the CDC's most important tools because early on in a crisis the agency depends on people following the advice of experts despite considerable uncertainty.
The World Economic Forum on Wednesday released its annual Global Risks Report, which found that global leaders are more concerned about the cost of living than climate change.
A bill that would try to abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and eliminate federal income tax was reintroduced on Tuesday by Georgia Republican Rep. Buddy Carter.
The Justice Department is reviewing a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute.
The House passed the chamber's rules package with all but one Republican vote while all GOP members voted for its first bill, which would strip funding from the IRS.
At the top of Kevin McCarthy’s to-do list as he begins his role as House Speaker is adopting a new rules package for the chamber when it convenes Monday evening.
Brazilian authorities were vowing to protect democracy and preparing to mete out punishment Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation’s highest seats of power.
