E&C Democrats Slam Anemic Responses to Oversight Requests on Eve of Budget Hearing with Kennedy
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. today blasting his refusal to respond to congressional oversight requests and lack of transparency.
To date, Democratic Committee leaders have sent dozens of oversight letters to HHS and its operating divisions since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The Democratic Committee leaders slammed Kennedy for HHS’s refusal to respond to these inquires, including by sending a single nonresponsive letter as a reply to ten separate inquiries containing 123 questions and document requests.
“By routinely ignoring congressional requests, you have denied Congress and the public the transparency to which we are entitled, especially in light of the sweeping and disruptive changes at HHS under the Trump Administration,” the Democratic Committee leaders wrote. “In the last year, HHS has eliminated entire offices and programs, including those responding to lead poisoning exposures, providing grant funding for sexual violence prevention programs, monitoring disease outbreaks, distributing energy-cost assistance to low-income Americans, inspecting potentially contaminated food, and conducting clinical trials that could save lives. The paltry response from your Assistant Secretary does not begin to address the many concerns we have shared regarding the impact of those cuts on Americans’ health and safety.”
The Democrats also requested clarification on the numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations that Kennedy made before the Energy and Commerce Committee during his testimony at last year’s June 24, 2025, hearing on the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Kennedy is expected to appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow morning at 10am ET for a hearing on HHS’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request.
“Taken together, this pattern of non-responsiveness demonstrates your unwillingness to provide meaningful information to evaluate how HHS is operating and the adequacy of HHS’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request,” Pallone, DeGette, and Clarke continued.
The Democrats requested Kennedy provide complete responses to all outstanding oversight requests, a production scheduled for the requested documents, and information on the staff preparing these responses.
Read the full letter HERE.
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