E&C Committee Leaders Urge HHS Inspector General to Investigate Interference at CDC

In a letter sent yesterday, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee demanded that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) conduct a full investigation into politically motivated interference by the White House in the affairs of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the pandemic.

The letter is just the latest move by Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Health Subcommittee Chair Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), who have spent months probing alleged politicization of the CDC and FDA.

The lawmakers cited the CDC’s notice to states to be ready for COVID-19 vaccine distribution by Nov. 1, and said this raised concerns that the timing of vaccine approval and distribution was being driven by politics instead of science ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election (DID, Sept. 3).

They also referenced President Trump’s rebuke of CDC Director Robert Redfield after he stated that a COVID-19 vaccine would not be widely available to the public until mid-2021. Trump called the comments a “mistake” and “incorrect information” (DID, Sept. 17).

The three Democrats asked the OIG to investigate whether any CDC career personnel had raised concerns about interference from government officials outside the agency. They also want to know if any White House personnel modified or rejected any of the CDC’s COVID-19 guidance.

The appearance of political interference has “led to at best mixed messages and at worse the loss of public trust in the agency’s public guidance,” the lawmakers wrote.

Read the full letter here: www.fdanews.com/09-24-20-HHSOIG.pdf. — Jordan Williams