E&C Democrats Probe MAHA Report Filled with Errors

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) wrote to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., asking him to explain the flurry of errors published in his  MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment. The Report was touted by the Trump Administration as an assessment of key drivers behind the childhood chronic disease crisis, including obesity, diabetes, depression, suicide, and cancer. However, Committee Democrats are concerned that the errors in the report could seriously undermine our public health agencies’ efforts to address these issues in order to keep our nation’s children healthy.

“In a post by the White House on X, you are quoted as stating that ‘Never in American history has the federal government taken a position on public health like this.’” You are correct in that this is a uniquely embarrassing and flawed document on public health,” Pallone, DeGette, and Clarke wrote in their letter to Kennedy. “In order to understand how this happened and ensure that you are more scientifically rigorous and vigilant going forward, we seek answers to a series of questions.”

The three Democratic Committee leaders called out Secretary Kennedy for mischaracterization of science, erroneous identification of authors and journals, and outright fabrication of non-existent sources. They also rejected the White House’s attempt to dismiss the mistakes as “formatting errors.”

“The fabrication of sources is not a question of ‘formatting’ and instead indicates a fundamental failure in your and the Commission’s process and conclusions. These issues alone call into question the integrity of the entire Report,” the three Democratic leaders continued in their letter.

The Democratic leaders also questioned to what extent artificial intelligence was used in the production of the Report. 

“These numerous, fundamental errors in the Report demonstrate a serious lack of scientific rigor and a flawed process designed to deliver conclusions that align with your personal views rather than the evidence,” the Democratic leaders wrote to Secretary Kennedy. “A review of the numerous errors found in the Report also raises the question of what extent AI tools were used to research and draft it without adequate oversight or policies to ensure accuracy.”

The three Committee leaders demanded answers on the flawed process that led to the public health Report including a lot of inaccurate information by July 1, asking for:

• The extent to which AI tools were used in research, drafting, and revision;
• Documentation of policies and guidelines used in research, drafting, and revision;
• Explanation of why only some changes to original citations were notated; and
• Whether further revisions to the Report are planned, in light of cited researchers claiming mischaracterization of their work. 

Full text of the letter is available HERE.

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