President Trump exerts undue influence on the CDC through politicized political appointments that undermine public trust in the institution. They are reportedly exerting pressure to issue guidance contradictory to established public health science. This interference is the latest in a series of politicized reports based on questionable science reminiscent of regimes like Brazil or North Korea.

We know that in countries where politics trumps sound public health guidance, fatalities increase, and health outcomes decrease overall. As the quality of CDC guidance is inconsistent, RSG developed a framework to analyze new CDC decisions to determine whether they are likely to result from sound policy or bad politics…