Welcome to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, issued the following statement regarding the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest coverage update on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). “Our Republican-led One Big Beautiful Bill Act promotes the core mission of protecting our most vulnerable Americans by strengthening, securing, and sustaining our crucial federal health programs,”   said Chairman Guthrie .  “The Democrat lies have been loud, but the truth is louder. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a win for American families—especially expectant mothers, their children, low-income seniors, and people with disabilities. “The prolonged lie exacerbated by Democrats that 17 million individuals will lose health care coverage from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has finally been dispelled by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In the most recent coverage update released by CBO, CBO estimates 10 million individuals enrolled in federal health care programs will no longer be covered, with 5.3 million being able-bodied adults refusing to work, 3.7 million having access to other forms of coverage, and the remaining balance being removed from the rolls since coverage was limited to U.S. citizens and lawfully permanent residents. It’s easy to scare people with coverage loss estimates, but the facts are clear – the vast majority of these individuals are either choosing to lose coverage or aren’t actually eligible for Medicaid, and nearly all are eligible for other forms of coverage. “I think about Americans all across the country, who work hard every day but have to pay with their own taxpayer dollars for the health care of millions of able-bodied Americans who are choosing not to work. Republicans will continue to find commonsense solutions that ensure these programs are available for those who need them most, for generations to come. I thank President Trump for his steadfast leadership on this issue and for signing a piece of legislation that promotes the future of our health programs to serve their intended purpose.” BACKGROUND: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released the updated coverage numbers for H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). CBO estimated the total number of uninsured beneficiaries to be 10 million by 2034. The breakdown includes: 5.3 million able-bodied adults currently covered by Medicaid who are choosing not to work; 3.7 million individuals who will have access to another form of health insurance; and 1 million individuals who are not U.S. citizens or lawfully permanent residents.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, and John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board, requesting information on California’s decision to continue imposing a de-facto EV mandate. “The law is clear California must put an end to its de-facto EV mandate. Enforcing a ban on the sale of gas-powered vehicles would have dire consequences for American families and businesses,” said Chairman Guthrie. “Forcing Americans to buy these vehicles would strain our electric grid, raise costs, and increase our reliance on China. Our investigation will look into whether California is continuing to enforce an EV mandate in violation of federal law.” Read more about the letter from Fox News here . Key excerpts from the letter: “The Committee is concerned about reports that California, and other jurisdictions who have adopted California standards for which waivers of preemption have been granted, are enforcing preempted vehicle emission regulations in violation of the Clean Air Act.” “The Committee has been made aware that CARB staff is denying auto manufacturers approval to bring vehicles to market unless the manufacturers agree to comply with the preempted regulations.” Background: On June 12, 2025, President Trump signed three resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. H.J. Res. 87, H.J. Res. 88, and H.J. Res 89, which collectively disapproved California’s waiver of preemption allowing the state to impose emission standards that effectively ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. The CRA’s passed Congress with bipartisan support. The Clean Air Act clearly bans states from issuing their own emission standards unless EPA grants a waiver of federal preemption. Because the EPA’s waivers have been disapproved under the CRA, the California EV mandates are not allowed under the Clean Air Act. Despite three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions being signed into law this year that block California from implementing vehicle standards that ban the sale of gas-powered cars and trucks through its Advanced Clean Cars (ACC) II regulations, Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulations, and Omnibus Low NOx programs (the Omnibus) regulations, Committee staff have learned that California and other states are continuing to implement the preempted rules. Specifically, following formal disapproval of previously granted waivers due to the CRAs, California is reportedly refusing to certify automobiles that don’t meet the now-preempted standards, contrary to federal law, i.e., the Clean Air Act. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, issued the following statement regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) adoption of an item to update subsea cable regulations: “Subsea cables underpin the overwhelming majority of international internet traffic, and this week’s unanimous decision protects that critical infrastructure from interference by our foreign adversaries. Continued investment and streamlining our approval processes for submarine cable infrastructure will enhance the resiliency of these critical networks and enable the United States to expand our global technological dominance,” said Chairman Guthrie . “We must defend against our adversaries, such as China, who seek to access and tamper with American networks.”   CLICK HERE to read the FCC’s announcement.  ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, along with Reps. Palmer (AL-06), Carter (GA-01), Bilirakis (FL-12), and Obernolte (CA-23), penned a letter to the Executive Director of Covered California (CoveredCA), Jessica Altman, to request further information related to the potentially unauthorized transmission of sensitive personal health information involving Covered California’s website. Key Letter Excerpt: “According to public reports and agency statements, tracking technology was embedded on Covered California's website beginning in February 2024, as part of a broader digital advertising effort, and in direct contravention of the tracking platform’s user agreement, which prohibits the use of such tools on pages that collect sensitive health information. Although the tags were reportedly removed in April 2025, following external scrutiny and a vendor transition, the extended period of data exposure raises serious questions about the adequacy of safeguards that Covered California had in place. Forensic testing by investigative reporters identified the trackers in operation and confirmed that user-entered health information was being transmitted to third parties without consent. These circumstances warrant examination of Covered California’s actions under federal privacy standards.” “Ensuring the confidentiality of health information is a foundational obligation for entities operating within the health insurance ecosystem. Federal privacy protections, particularly the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), establish expectations for how covered organizations handle sensitive data. Recent reports and public filings raised questions about whether those expectations were met in this case, and whether existing oversight mechanisms are sufficient to detect and prevent improper disclosures.” Background: Forensic testing shows Covered California —the State of California’s official health insurance marketplace—has been sending sensitive user health data to third-party websites through several online data trackers. Prior to removal of the trackers, CoveredCA had more than 60 trackers active on its website; the average number of trackers on a government website is three. Some types of information sent to such websites include: Searches for doctors in network with specific plans/specializations Demographic information, including gender, ethnicity, and marital status Length of treatment a patent received by a provider Frequency of doctor visits If the user indicated they were blind, pregnant, a victim of domestic abuse, or used prescription medications. The State of California independently operates CoveredCA. As the state’s official ACA marketplace, CoveredCA falls under the purview of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The disclosure of information such as pregnancy or prescription drug use without proper consent—even for “marketing purposes”—may violate HIPAA. This Congress, the Committee has sent letters to 23andMe and DeepSeek over potential data privacy concerns: The Committee also held a hearing last Congress on the Change Healthcare hack, where personal health information was also jeopardized. CLICK HERE to read Fox News coverage of the letter. CLICK HERE to view the full letter. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump urging the administration to quickly remove burdensome regulations that have stopped the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program from connecting any American to reliable broadband. KEY EXCERPT: “The Biden administration added unnecessary and burdensome requirements that made participation in the program more expensive and less attractive to broadband providers. These include labor and climate change requirements, as well as rate regulation of low-cost broadband plans that were unlawfully imposed.  “To address these issues, we introduced the Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment (SPEED) for BEAD Act, which outlines necessary reforms to BEAD. We appreciate that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is undertaking a review of the program and urge any reforms to be enacted as soon as possible.” BACKGROUND: On March 5, 2025,  Congressman Hudson introduced  the SPEED for BEAD Act to remove harmful regulations that have prevented the $42 billion program from laying even a single inch of fiber to support rural Americans. Also on March 5, 2025, the Committee on Energy and Commerce  held a hearing  to discuss the BEAD program titled  Fixing Biden’s Broadband Blunder. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to 23andMe regarding the handling of Americans' sensitive data following the company's decision to file for bankruptcy. KEY EXCERPT: “According to 23andMe’s privacy statement, in a bankruptcy, customers’ ‘Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction and this Privacy Statement will apply to [customer] Personal Information as transferred to the new entity.’ Additionally, a judge recently ruled 23andMe has the right to sell the sensitive medical and genetic information of its 15 million customers, which is considered to be the company’s most valuable asset. With the lack of a federal comprehensive data privacy and security law, we write to express our great concern about the safety of Americans’ most sensitive personal information.” Background: On March 23, 2025, 23andMe initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which could have ramifications for the highly sensitive information of millions of Americans. While Americans’ personal health information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), these protections only apply if the information is collected by a HIPAA covered entity. Generally, direct-to-consumer companies, like 23andMe, are not covered by HIPAA. Customers have reported issues accessing and deleting their data from their 23andMe accounts. The Chairmen have requested answers to the following questions: If 23andMe were to sell the personal information of its customers either as a standalone asset or as part of a broader sale of the company, what post-sale data privacy and security protections would be in place for its customers’ personal information? Please describe how the representations made in 23andMe’s privacy statement will continue to apply—and be enforced—if the personal information of 23andMe’s customers is sold to a third party. Please include in this response information about what, if anything, would hold a third-party buyer to 23andMe’s privacy statement or prevent it from subsequently using, transferring, or otherwise selling, such information in the future. Does 23andMe plan to change its privacy statement at any time prior to selling any customers’ personal information? If so, please explain the change 23andMe plans to implement and when those changes will go into effect. Does 23andMe intend to vet prospective buyers to which it may sell its customers’ personal information? If so, please detail the vetting process and whether it will include the prospective buyer’s history of implementing data security protections and compliance with sectoral, state, or any other data privacy and security laws. If not, please explain why. Please detail the categories of customer information 23andMe has, and of that what 23andMe is considering selling. Has 23andMe notified its customers of the company’s bankruptcy announcement? If so, please attach the customer notification. If not, please explain why. Has 23andMe provided its customers with a guide for how to delete, or request to delete any information currently in 23andMe’s possession? If so, please provide a copy of that guide and specify when it was provided to customers. If not, please explain why, and explain whether 23andMe will contact each of its customers and provide an opportunity to delete their personal information prior to a potential sale of the company or personal information maintained by the company. Please detail the number of requests 23andMe received from its customers to delete their personal information between when 23andMe filed for bankruptcy and the date of the response to this letter. Of those requests, please provide a breakdown of how many requests were made by customers through their 23andMe online accounts and how many were made via customer service calls because customers were unable to successfully delete their information through their online accounts. Of those requests, please detail the number of fulfilled requests. Will 23andMe offer for sale any information in which a customer has requested the deletion of such information? If so, does 23andMe’s privacy policy consider selling information a legitimate purpose for retaining information past a customer's request to delete their information? Will 23andMe deidentify its customers’ personal information prior to selling it or the company? If so, please detail which information will be deidentified. If not, please explain why the company is electing not to deidentify information. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. CLICK HERE to read the story from CNBC. ###