White House blocks Ebola czar Ron Klain from testifying before Congress

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said she speaks to Klain in person or by phone or e-mail every day. Other administration officials chimed in and described him as a necessary policy coordinator.

Then Approps chair Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), revealed that she had asked for Klain to join the panel but was blocked by the White House.

“I reached out to Mr. Klain,” she said, but the White House “declined his participation, saying he had no operational role.” The White House said “he is a coordinator and an employee of the White House. They felt that the people who had the real responsibility for doing the actual governance of response” should be on the panel.