Under the Biden administration, OPPR likewise worked behind the scenes. At the time, it was directed by Paul Friedrichs, a doctor and retired Air Force major-general. Friedrichs informed CNN that the OPPR routinely hosted interagency calls in between the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDA, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. When the H5N1 bird influenza break out appeared in dairy farms last March, OPPR was hosting day-to-day conferences, which transitioned to weekly conferences towards completion of the administration.

“At the end of the day, bringing everybody together and having those meetings was incredibly important, so that we had a shared set of facts,” Friedrichs stated. “When decisions were made, everyone understood why the decision was made, what facts were used to inform the decision.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who co-wrote the expense that developed OPPR with previous Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), is worried by Trump’s sidelining of the workplace.

“Under the last administration, OPPR served, as intended, as the central hub coordinating a whole-of-government response to pandemic threats,” she said in a written statement to CNN. “While President Trump can not lawfully dissolve OPPR, as he has actually threatened to do, it is deeply worrying that he has actually moved the statutorily produced OPPR into the NSC.”

“As intended by law, OPPR is a separate, distinct office for a reason, which is especially relevant now as we are seeing outbreaks of measles, bird flu, and other serious and growing threats to public health,” Murray composed. “This should be alarming to everyone.”