White House moves to shield Trump from oversight of his coronavirus response -By James Hohmann

The president purges inspectors general &rejects congressional requests. The WH revealed on that members of its coronavirus task force – and their deputies – are barred from testifying before Congress unless they get special permission from chief of staff Mark Meadows. This is just the latest in a growing list of power plays byTrump to thwart congressional oversight and independent watchdogs from scrutinizing his administration’s response to the novel coronavirus and the way trillions of dollars are being distributed by the government.“President Trump should learn that by muzzling science and the truth, it will only prolong this health and economic crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “The president’s failure to accept the truth, and then his desire to hide it, is one of the chief reasons we are lagging behind so many other countries in beating this scourge.”