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From testing failures to downplayed virus risks to the disproportionate effect on communities of color, two Covid-19 experts emphasized at a Tuesday forum what is now a familiar refrain: The U.S. response has been fundamentally flawed. “We had information and we discounted it,” said panelist David Williams, a professor of public health, African and African American studies, and sociology at Harvard. “We didn’t take it as seriously as we could have. I do think that we could have been in a better position than we currently are if we had acted promptly.” (Chakradhar, 5/13)

There is little continuity in the top levels of the U.S. government when one political party replaces the presidential administration led by another. The natural inclination is to ignore much of the work left behind by the previous folks — and to reinvent the wheel all over again. But former Obama administration officials cried foul after McConnell’s comments. “We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook.... that they ignored,” tweeted Ron Klain, the former “Ebola czar” in the Obama administration. (Kessler, 5/14)

Retired Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson (R), who served as White House physician for both former President Obama and President Trump, accused Obama on Tuesday of weaponizing the federal government against Trump. "President Obama weaponized the highest levels of our government to spy on President Trump," Jackson tweeted. "Every Deep State traitor deserves to be brought to justice for their heinous actions." (Johnson, 5/13)

A former chemical industry executive nominated to be the nation’s top consumer safety watchdog was involved in sidelining detailed guidelines to help communities reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, internal government emails show. Now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is questioning the role played by nominee Nancy Beck in the decision to shelve the guidelines. Beck is not a medical doctor and has no background in virology. (Dearen and Biesecker, 5/13)

Based on the guidance, "no one who is reopening meets the criteria for reopening," a senior CDC official told CNN. One major discrepancy between the White House and CDC guidelines surrounds nonessential travel. In the White House plan, nonessential travel can resume as early as Phase 2. The CDC, however, recommends that nonessential travel be avoided until Phase 3, and even then suggests it "may be considered" and advises caution. (Holmes and Valencia, 5/13)