The White House has blocked CDC officials from testifying in a House Education and Labor Committee hearing scheduled next week on reopening schools, a senior CDC official confirmed to The Daily Beast. The committee’s chair, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), had invited CDC Director Robert Redfield last week to testify on July 23 to discuss “the immediate needs of K-12 public schools to safely reopening.” But, at the direction of the White House, Redfield won’t attend.

In a statement to Politico, Scott called the move “alarming” and said it came at a time “when [the CDC’s] expertise and guidance is so critical to the health and safety of students, parents, and educators.” He said the White House had done a disservice “to the many communities across the country facing difficult decisions about reopening schools this fall” and had prioritized politics over science.