E&C Dems Urge Republicans to Hold Oversight Hearing as Measles Outbreak Spreads to Nine States

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 Clarke (D-NY) wrote to full Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie and the two subcommittee chairs today requesting an urgent oversight hearing on the rapidly spreading measles outbreak, including a second death reported yesterday in New Mexico.

“We are deeply disturbed that Secretary Kennedy has downplayed the severity of the outbreak,” the three Democratic Leaders wrote. “The day the country experienced its first measles fatality in a decade, Secretary Kennedy called the current outbreak ‘not unusual.’ His well-documented rhetoric disputing the safety of childhood vaccines erodes trust in measures that have kept Americans safe for decades.  

“In his recent Fox News opinion piece, Kennedy fell short of urging parents to vaccinate their children against measles—a dangerous oversight considering vaccines are the most effective way to prevent the disease,” Pallone, DeGette, and Clarke continued. “Instead, he continues to baselessly tout Vitamin A as a measles treatment, even as the very physicians confronting the outbreak in Texas dispute its efficacy.” 

To date, there have been 164 known cases of measles in the United States, including 55 in children under the age of five, across nine states. Last week, the country tragically reported its first measles fatality in a decade, when a school-aged child died of measles in a children’s hospital in Lubbock, Texas. Overall, 32 patients, including 26 children, have been hospitalized so far.  

Last week, the Committed voted on its Oversight and Authorization Plan for the 119th Congress. During the markup, Republican Members unanimously voted against a Democratic amendment that would explicitly add vaccine-related oversight to the Committee’s agenda. 

“Though Republican Members stressed the ‘inclusive nature’ of the Committee’s plan, we are concerned that the Republican Majority’s silence on Secretary Kennedy’s harmful comments on the ongoing outbreak validates Committee Democrats’ central concern: the Republican Majority is unwilling to conduct rigorous oversight over the Trump Administration’s approach to public health,” Pallone, DeGette, and Clarke continued.   

In 2019, when Chair Guthrie was then Ranking Member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, the Committee held a bipartisan hearing on measles. At the hearing, Guthrie said, “given the concerns raised by the measles outbreak and various parts of the nation . . . it is appropriate to have this hearing to provide greater discussion and examination at a national level.” At that time, there were 159 confirmed cases; today, there are at least 164.  

“We urge you to act with similar urgency now and convene an immediate hearing so we can hear directly from Secretary Kennedy without delay,” the Democratic Committee leaders concluded. 

Read the full letter HERE.

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