⁍ Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s former mentee, solidified her standing inside the White House.
⁍ Sources say she has essentially taken charge of running the task force day to day.
⁍ Birx spearheaded the administration’s recent decision to have hospitals send information on coronavirus patients to a new federal database.
⁍ She has also been a forceful advocate for the President’s push to reopen schools.

– When Dr. Deborah Birx took charge of the White House task force on coronavirus earlier this year, she had no idea she’d end up running it day-to-day. That’s because, as CNN reports, she’s “essentially taken charge” of the task force, overseeing its day-to-day operations. Birx, a former Army physician who ran the State Department’s global AIDS program under President Obama, is seen as a “savvy political operator” who’s built a close working relationship with Vice President Mike Pence. She’s the only task force member who briefs Pence every day, and she’s said to have his “right hand” when she needs it. She’s also said to have angered her former mentor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Health. “I feel she has signed her fate in blood with these guys,” one source says. “She’s a Trumper now.” But a Pence spokesperson says Birx’s goal is to “put health and safety before any other consideration,” and Fauci disagrees. “She’s not a political appointee, but she’s in a very political environment,” he tells CNN.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/world/coronavirus-newsletter-07-17-20-intl/index.html