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Shop NowOn July 7th, the Energy and Commerce Committee held a news conference to discuss Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s failure to lawfully reappoint 14 National Institutes of Health officials.
Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., expressed her dismay at the lack of accountability within the agency during COVID-19.
She also mentioned that Becerra had failed to provide documents proving he had appointed these officials in accordance with the 21st Century Cures Act passed in 2016.
The 21st Century Cures Act is a bipartisan law passed in 2016 which requires that Secretary of HHS must reappoint NIH Institute and Center Directors every five years, starting with those whose terms will expire in December 2021.
This means that if Becerra fails to do so, these high ranking officials are not legally allowed to make decisions or approve grants totaling $26 billion dollars or more.
As stated by Rodgers “no one is above the law” implying that it was important for Americans to be assured their tax dollars were being spent responsibly and lawfully.
Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chair of the Health Subcommittee further called out Dr Anthony Fauci specifically for exercising authority while holding an unlawful position.
He also accused him of using his platform as a voice of science while simultaneously shaming alternative points of view and pushing public health policies into question.
Guthrie maintains that all decisions made by each official after 2021 should be called into question given their unlawful positions, clearly highlighting how this misuse can have wide reaching implications on American life today.
The committee announced plans to hold a hearing at the end of this month for Becerra where they intend to investigate further into what went wrong here and why documents proving his reappointment weren’t provided earlier – something they requested over a year ago now!
It’s certainly going to be interesting hearing what Becerra has to say about all this..
