Others said the lack of a strong FDA role early on had direct consequences. Two sources familiar with events say the White House wasn’t getting information from the FDA about the state of the testing effort, a crucial element of the coronavirus response.

As is now known, agencies that fall under HHS’s jurisdiction, like the CDC, were plagued with issues that cost the U.S. valuable time in stopping the spread of the virus, including a glitch that made the first tests it created useless and wasn’t fixed for weeks. (The lack of tests “limited hospitals’ ability to monitor the health of patients and staff,” the HHS inspector general said in a report released earlier this month, adding that the equipment shortage “put staff and patients at risk.”) A virus-surveillance program never panned out, and rather than share information, Azar and his staff allegedly “sidelined key agencies that could have played a higher-profile role in addressing the pandemic,” according to current and former officials. “It was a mess,” said a White House official who worked with HHS.

Meanwhile, while a dog breeder has been given a top role in the crisis, people with actual relevant experience have been kicked to the curb. On Wednesday the New York Times reported that vaccine expert Dr. Rick Bright was removed from his post ”after he pressed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug embraced by President Trump as a coronavirus treatment” (which an early trial showed may actually lead to increased deaths of coronavirus patients). If only Bright had a side business breeding Pomeranians, perhaps he’d still have a job!

On a related note, if you’ve been working the circus-clown circuit for the last few years but are thinking about making a career change, now would apparently be a great time to shoot the Trump admin a résumé. We can almost guarantee you’ll get a call back.

More Great Stories From Vanity Fair

— The Coronavirus Is Blowing Up the Media Landscape

— The Mental Toll of COVID-19 Is Crushing Medical Workers

— Why Trump’s Coronavirus Optimism Isn’t Working

— In Washington, a Breakdown of Politics as Usual

— Related’s Stephen Ross Has a Giant Coronavirus Hypocrisy Problem

— From the Archive: Following the Psychological Contagion That Fed the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

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