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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, announced a subcommittee markup of 28 bills to streamline broadband permitting. WHAT : Subcommittee on Communications and Technology markup of 28 bills. DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 TIME: 10:15 AM ET LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building Items to be considered: • H.R. 1343 , Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act (Reps. Pfluger and Soto) • H.R. 1588 , Facilitating DIGITAL Applications Act (Reps. Miller-Meeks and Dingell) • H.R. 1665 , DIGITAL Applications Act (Reps. Cammack and Matsui) • H.R. 1681 , Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Evans and Craig) • H.R. 1731 , Standard FEES Act (Reps. Palmer and Ryan) • H.R. ____ , the Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act (Reps. Joyce, Landsman, and Peters) • H.R. 2289 , Proportional Reviews for Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Carter) • H.R. 278 , BROADBAND Leadership Act (Rep. Griffith) • H.R. 339 , Broadband Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act (Rep. Crenshaw) • H.R. 1541 , Wireless Broadband Competition and Efficient Deployment Act (Rep. Rulli) • H.R. 1617 , Wireless Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act of 2025 (Rep. Langworthy) • H.R. 1655 , Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act (Rep. Bentz) • H.R. 1836 , GRANTED Act of 2025 (Rep. Obernolte) • H.R. 1975 , BEAD FEE Act of 2025 (Rep. Allen) • H.R. 2298 , Reducing Barriers for Broadband on Federal Lands Act of 2025 (Rep. Fulcher) • H.R. 2817 , Coastal Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Bilirakis) • H.R. 3960 , Connecting Communities Post Disasters Act of 2025 (Rep. Dunn) • H.R. 4211 , Brownfields Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Walberg) • H.R. 4927 , CABLE Competition Act (Rep. Houchin) • H.R. 5147 , Winning the International Race for Economic Leadership and Expanding Service to Support Leadership Act or WIRELESS Leadership Act (Rep. Latta) • H.R. 5170 , Cable Access for Broadband and Local Economic Leadership Act or the CABLE Leadership Act (Rep. Balderson) • H.R. 5264 , Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment for Broadband Infrastructure or the “SPEED for Broadband Infrastructure Act (Rep. Goldman) • H.R. 5266 , 5G Using Previously Granted Rulings that Accelerate Deployment Everywhere Act or the 5G UPGRADE Act (Rep. Harshbarger) • H.R. 5273 , Broadband Competition and Efficient Deployment Act (Rep. Joyce) • H.R. 5290 , Cable Transparency Act (Rep. Weber) • H.R. 5311 , Connecting and Building Lines for Expedited Expansion Act or the CABLE Expansion Act (Rep. Fedorchak) • H.R. 5318 , Reducing Antiquated Permitting for Infrastructure Deployment Act (Rep. Hudson) • H.R. 5358 , TRUSTED Broadband Networks Act (Rep. Fry) This notice is at the discretion of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed at energycommerce.house.gov . If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please ocntact Noah Jackson at Noah.Jackson@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Daniel Kelly at Daniel.Kelly@mail.house.gov . ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, sent a letter to Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), requesting an assessment of available or emerging technologies and materials that could be used to supplement critical minerals in semiconductors. “Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are essential for technologies used in many sectors of the economy, including energy, transportation, national defense, health care, and consumer electronics,” said Chairmen Joyce and Palmer . “These minerals are vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions for several reasons, including U.S. reliance on foreign sources, as well as the rapid growth in demand for critical minerals in the U.S. and abroad.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter. The letter asks the GAO to examine: The status of domestic technologies and supplemental materials, such as critical minerals found in mine waste, tailings, or reclaimed from end-of-life batteries and electronic waste, that can serve as substitutes for foreign-sourced critical minerals from non-allied nations needed for semiconductors and energy grid or power electronics, including impacts on material and product performance. Key technological challenges to the development or adoption of these domestic supplemental and materials to advance the diversification of U.S. critical mineral sources. BACKGROUND: In May, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on ways to enhance our critical mineral supply chains. Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are committed to strengthening our critical mineral supply chains and finding solutions to reduce our reliance on foreign sources, particularly when it comes to foreign adversaries like China. The Trump Administration has also worked hard to bolster these supply chains. Critical minerals are essential to American technologies and industries, and finding innovative domestic solutions that can contribute to our independence from non-allied nations is essential as we work to onshore American innovation and strengthen our national security. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, announced a subcommittee hearing titled Daylight and Destinations: Examining Time, Travel, and Tourism . “Travel and tourism are key drivers of both our local and national economies, and it’s essential that Congress explore the best ways to strengthen and capitalize on these opportunities for our country,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Bilirakis. “We also will examine the various perspectives surrounding Daylight Saving Time, a practice that touches nearly every American and warrants careful consideration by Congress. This hearing will provide an important opportunity to assess its real-world impacts and determine the best path forward.” Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing titled Daylight and Destinations: Examining Time, Travel, and Tourism . WHAT : Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing on time, travel, and tourism. DATE: Thursday, November 20, 2025 TIME: 10:00 AM ET LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at energycommerce.house.gov . If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Alex Khlopin at Alex.Khlopin@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Daniel Kelly at Daniel.Kelly@mail.house.gov .  ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, announced a hearing titled Innovation with Integrity: Examining the Risks and Benefits of AI Chatbots. “The rapid advancement of AI holds tremendous promise for the future, but recent stories about AI chatbots’ interactions with users have raised serious concerns about the potential impact of chatbot use on the health and wellbeing of those who engage with these platforms,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Joyce. “While some AI chatbot providers have taken steps to address these concerns, additional oversight is needed to better understand risks to users when interacting with these technologies. This hearing will allow the Committee to examine the risks, what safeguards are in place, and how to ensure users—especially children and teens—can stay safe while using chatbots. We must continue working to facilitate AI innovation and global leadership in new technologies while also guarding against compromises to the safety and wellbeing of online users.” Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing titled Innovation with Integrity: Examining the Risks and Benefits of AI Chatbots. WHAT: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing investigating the safety of AI chatbots. DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 TIME: 2:00 PM ET LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at energycommerce.house.gov . If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Jackson Rudden at Jackson.Rudden@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Daniel Kelly at Daniel.Kelly@mail.house.gov . ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – In case you missed it, the Washington Examiner recently featured an op-ed by Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which highlighted how provisions within the Working Families Tax Cuts are unleashing American energy dominance and lowering energy and electricity prices.  In Case You Missed It:   “The energy prices that dramatically increased during the Biden administration are continuing to rise, and the attempts by Democrats to pin the increase on President Donald Trump’s policies willfully ignore how their reckless decisions during the previous administration have led us here.    “Since the Working Families Tax Cuts was signed into law, Democrats have tried to claim that Republican policies would cause energy prices to rise for families. This is false. The legislation strips subsidies for parts of the far-left energy agenda that have been driving up prices. On the contrary, the tax cuts law will save the average household $2,900 in 2026.    “The truth is that building the electricity grid on unreliable, taxpayer-subsidized wind and solar — as Democrats have advocated for the last decade — has driven up costs. As energy producers and grid operators have told us in hearings this year, subsidizing intermittent sources of electricity essentially requires building two systems to keep the lights on. One is the costly wind and solar system touted by liberal donors and the renewable energy lobby. The other is a reliable backup system necessary for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.    “Subsidies for wind and solar projects, as well as regulations aimed at hampering natural gas and coal generation, have been driving up rates and undermining reliability. It was the Biden administration that restricted energy supplies, forced the end of fossil fuel generation in favor of costly intermittent power, and failed to provide for increased demand from artificial intelligence data centers, advanced manufacturing, and the growing consumer economy.    “With those harmful policies of the past four years already built into state and utility planning decisions, families are continuing to see the legacy effect of rising costs in their household bills. The energy grid cannot be rebalanced to provide affordable, reliable power in a matter of months; it takes years.   “Energy prices rose nearly 30% under the Biden administration, 13 times faster than the previous seven years. That spike came from the far-left policies that rewarded Democrats’ anti-fossil fuel special interest allies and the green energy sector. The Obama and Biden administrations wielded the regulatory state to stifle the production of reliable baseload power, all while like-minded states continued to phase out reliable baseload power generation as well.    “Democrats are now claiming even more wind- and solar-powered electricity needs to be brought online quickly to meet our needs, which flatly ignores the effects we’re already seeing from these policies leading to rising costs and unreliability. Simply put, intermittent resources cannot reliably provide power during times of peak demand, especially during extreme weather events.    “This is not to say that there is no role at all for wind and solar energy, but the reality is that these sources must be supported in the background by natural gas, coal, hydropower, or nuclear. Adding more wind and solar inputs while closing and restricting more reliable power only drives up costs and increases risks of brownouts and blackouts. Just compare two of our largest states: natural gas-dominant Florida has seen electricity rates that are half those of renewable-dominant California.    “The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has heard testimony from grid operators that the current imbalance in the grid, caused by the retirements of reliable generation and a massive oversupply of intermittent wind and solar, is unsustainable and that there is a major need for more baseload power in the coming years. This is leading grid operators to take emergency steps to expedite the build-out of fossil fuel generation over wind and solar to rebalance the grid and avoid costly blackouts.    “In a recent report, the Department of Energy warned that outages could increase 100 times by 2030 if power plant retirements and the increase in overall demand for electricity continue at their current pace. Even as more renewables have come online, our grid is not prepared to meet the increased demand from AI data centers and domestic manufacturing. That is why the Working Families Tax Cuts created the Energy Dominance Financing Program, investing in projects that provide power 24/7, 365 days a year.    “By ending costly subsidies for unreliable sources, such as wind and solar, and leveling the playing field for natural gas, coal, nuclear, and hydropower, Republicans are making sure America gets the ‘best of the above’ energy for a balanced, reliable grid to serve families and industry far into the future.   “To be clear, it will take time for these policies to materialize into actual construction projects, but we have cleared some of the regulatory blockers that are allowing industry to start making these investments. We cannot go back to the policies that prioritized radical environmental agendas over families and brought higher prices, blackouts, brownouts, and a grid that cannot meet increased demand.      “The people know better. Alongside our president, House Republicans are working to restore reliable and abundant energy, lower electricity costs, and restore America’s energy dominance.” ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, issued the following statement in response to an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of a decision to recall ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula due to an outbreak of infant botulism, which is currently being investigated. “The Committee has a history of conducting oversight of infant formula matters to ensure adequate supply is safe and readily available for families and children. President Trump’s FDA has also done important work through Operation Stork Speed to address these issues, and I am pleased to see his Administration take swift action to restore confidence for caretakers when it comes to their little ones’ nutritional needs,” said Chairman Guthrie . “I am grateful to HHS Secretary Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Makary for furthering our commitment to protecting children and mothers through improving the safety and availability of the domestic infant formula supply.”   Background:    The Committee has conducted extensive oversight of the Biden Administration’s mishandling of the infant-formula shortage and challenged the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on its preparedness, inspection practices, and responsiveness to early warnings about the formula crisis.  On May 25, 2022, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “Formula Safety and Supply: Protecting the Health of America’s Babies” during the infant-formula shortage to examine supply, safety, and what further action was needed.  Following the hearing, the Committee sent a letter to then FDA Commissioner, Robert M. Califf, directing the Biden Administration to provide access to the memos and reports sent to the White House and demanding that the administration be completely transparent with parents who deserve answers.   On September 21, 2022, Energy and Commerce Republicans convinced Committee Democrats to join in passing a bipartisan resolution  requesting that the Biden administration turn over documents related to the baby formula shortage. H.Res.1287 was reported out of the committee by a vote of 54-0.    Chairman Guthrie has also introduced legislation to help prevent future baby formula shortages—the More Options for Infants and Parents Act— and signed on as a cosponsor to the Improving Newborn Formula Access for a Nutritious Tomorrow (INFANT) Act , to enhance testing of infant formula for contaminants and improve resilience of supply. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, sent a letter to Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), highlighting the IEA’s decision to restore the inclusion of objective data analysis in the World Energy Outlook (WEO). By bringing back the Current Policies Scenario (CPS) in the report, the IEA is returning to its core mission and working to promote energy security. “Strengthening our nation’s energy security is vital to securing our grid, powering AI and domestic manufacturing, and ensuring that Americans have the energy resources they need,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Latta. “For the last several years, IEA forecasts incorrectly assumed the peak demand for oil and natural gas would come before 2030. As a result, these forecasts deterred investments by painting an inaccurate picture of what energy markets will need in the future. By finally standing up to activist pressure opposing the use of oil and natural gas to power our economy, the IEA will once again be able to provide the unbiased market forecasts decision makers rely on to provide reliable and affordable energy into the future.”   Key excerpts from the letter:   “Maintaining objective data analysis, free from activism, is imperative. The IEA has long stood as an invaluable source of unbiased data and analysis on the security of oil markets. The agency’s work carries significant weight for policymakers, the energy industry, and global financial firms. “Yet in 2020, the IEA, under pressure from climate activists eager to exploit the agency’s credibility to discourage oil and gas investment, abandoned its longstanding CPS, and began only publishing WEOs that relied on subjective scenarios that assumed different degrees of adherence to climate action agreements. These aggressive Stated Policies Scenarios (STEPS), rely heavily on policy aspirations, while ignoring market realities. “In the United States alone, oil and natural gas account for about 74 percent of the primary energy sources consumed every year, with natural gas accounting for approximately 43 percent of electric power generation. Due to artificial intelligence and other technologies, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts significant natural gas demand growth over the next several years. As you know, the EIA maintains the use of a policy-neutral baseline reference case. “Politicized and censored demand scenarios can distort policy decisions and misguide capital investment. Just last year, the Biden-Harris Administration leveraged these questionable IEA projections, while ignoring EIA data, to support banning liquefied natural gas export projects. This decision discouraged sufficient capital allocation toward critical energy supplies and emboldened Russia’s war machine.”   CLICK HERE to read the full letter. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following op-ed by Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, appeared in the Washington Examiner this morning. “The energy prices that dramatically increased during the Biden administration are continuing to rise, and the attempts by Democrats to pin the increase on President Donald Trump’s policies willfully ignore how their reckless decisions during the previous administration have led us here. “Since the Working Families Tax Cuts was signed into law, Democrats have tried to claim that Republican policies would cause energy prices to rise for families. This is false. The legislation strips subsidies for parts of the far-left energy agenda that have been driving up prices. On the contrary, the tax cuts law will save the average household $2,900 in 2026. “The truth is that building the electricity grid on unreliable, taxpayer-subsidized wind and solar — as Democrats have advocated for the last decade — has driven up costs. As energy producers and grid operators have told us in hearings this year, subsidizing intermittent sources of electricity essentially requires building two systems to keep the lights on. One is the costly wind and solar system touted by liberal donors and the renewable energy lobby. The other is a reliable backup system necessary for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. “Subsidies for wind and solar projects, as well as regulations aimed at hampering natural gas and coal generation, have been driving up rates and undermining reliability. It was the Biden administration that restricted energy supplies, forced the end of fossil fuel generation in favor of costly intermittent power, and failed to provide for increased demand from artificial intelligence data centers, advanced manufacturing, and the growing consumer economy. “With those harmful policies of the past four years already built into state and utility planning decisions, families are continuing to see the legacy effect of rising costs in their household bills. The energy grid cannot be rebalanced to provide affordable, reliable power in a matter of months; it takes years. “Energy prices rose nearly 30% under the Biden administration, 13 times faster than the previous seven years. That spike came from the far-left policies that rewarded Democrats’ anti-fossil fuel special interest allies and the green energy sector. The Obama and Biden administrations wielded the regulatory state to stifle the production of reliable baseload power, all while like-minded states continued to phase out reliable baseload power generation as well. “Democrats are now claiming even more wind- and solar-powered electricity needs to be brought online quickly to meet our needs, which flatly ignores the effects we’re already seeing from these policies leading to rising costs and unreliability. Simply put, intermittent resources cannot reliably provide power during times of peak demand, especially during extreme weather events. “This is not to say that there is no role at all for wind and solar energy, but the reality is that these sources must be supported in the background by natural gas, coal, hydropower, or nuclear. Adding more wind and solar inputs while closing and restricting more reliable power only drives up costs and increases risks of brownouts and blackouts. Just compare two of our largest states: natural gas-dominant Florida has seen electricity rates that are half those of renewable-dominant California. “The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has heard testimony from grid operators that the current imbalance in the grid, caused by the retirements of reliable generation and a massive oversupply of intermittent wind and solar, is unsustainable and that there is a major need for more baseload power in the coming years. This is leading grid operators to take emergency steps to expedite the build-out of fossil fuel generation over wind and solar to rebalance the grid and avoid costly blackouts. “In a recent report, the Department of Energy warned that outages could increase 100 times by 2030 if power plant retirements and the increase in overall demand for electricity continue at their current pace. Even as more renewables have come online, our grid is not prepared to meet the increased demand from AI data centers and domestic manufacturing. That is why the Working Families Tax Cuts created the Energy Dominance Financing Program, investing in projects that provide power 24/7, 365 days a year. “By ending costly subsidies for unreliable sources, such as wind and solar, and leveling the playing field for natural gas, coal, nuclear, and hydropower, Republicans are making sure America gets the ‘best of the above’ energy for a balanced, reliable grid to serve families and industry far into the future. “To be clear, it will take time for these policies to materialize into actual construction projects, but we have cleared some of the regulatory blockers that are allowing industry to start making these investments. We cannot go back to the policies that prioritized radical environmental agendas over families and brought higher prices, blackouts, brownouts, and a grid that cannot meet increased demand. “The people know better. Alongside our president, House Republicans are working to restore reliable and abundant energy, lower electricity costs, and restore America’s energy dominance.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Breitbart recently featured Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, who shared ways in which Republicans have already voted to lower health care premiums that Democrats opposed in the Working Families Tax Cuts. In Case You Missed It: “House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) told Breitbart News that Republican proposals would have lowered health insurance premiums by nearly double compared to the Biden-era enhanced Obamacare credits. “What we’ve heard from both sides of the aisle is that Obamacare is not affordable. But what we’ve not heard is Democrats acknowledge the waste, fraud, and abuse that’s been enabled by these temporary subsidies — including massive handouts to big health insurance companies and expanded taxpayer subsidies to the wealthiest Obamacare enrollees,’ Guthrie told Breitbart News in a written statement. “Congressional Democrats’ demands to open the government are partly based on the premise that affordable health care is out of reach for many Americans. What Democrats now want as part of $1.5 trillion in additional federal spending is a permanent and everlasting program that they designated to expire in 2025,’ Griffith told Breitbart News. “The congressmen spoke to Breitbart News as the Democrat shutdown has continued for more than a month. Democrats shut down the government over expiring Biden-era enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, credits. Democrats first enhanced the Obamacare credits through the Biden coronavirus stimulus plan, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. The Democrat party then continued the credits with the passage of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act until the end of 2025, where Guthrie says they spent most of the month refusing to work with Republicans on meaningful solutions to lower healthcare costs. “With the Democrat-designed sunset date of December 31 for these COVID-era subsidies, we could have been utilizing this month to continue finding more tangible, meaningful solutions to make health care more affordable for Americans. Instead, Democrats chose to hold the American people hostage over billion-dollar handouts to big insurance companies,’ the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman continued. “Democrats initially created the temporary COVID-19 era ‘enhanced’ premium tax credits to help people who struggled from the economic fallout of the pandemic. But now, Democrats are doubling down on the temporary ‘enhanced’ credits as a means to subsidize Obamacare,’ Griffith said. “He added, ‘Whether intended or not, this is a stunning admission that President Obama’s signature healthcare program, Obamacare, has failed to provide affordable health care to the American people. Issues to soften the impacts of the Democratic Party’s failed policies can be discussed if we get the government open again.’ “Republicans such as Guthrie have criticized the Obamacare enhanced credits, more formally known as the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit (EPTC), because they are essentially direct payments to health insurers to lower healthcare costs. “While Democrats such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have accused Republicans of not wanting to provide health care to ‘everyday Americans,’ Democrats moved to nix substantial reform that would have drastically lowered health insurance premiums while the Big Beautiful Bill worked its way through the Senate. “In June, Democrats lobbied the Senate parliamentarian to scrap the ACA cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) from the Big Beautiful Bill, saying that it violates the Byrd Rule and thus requires 60 votes to be included in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Funding CSRs would lower benchmark silver premiums used to set subsidy amounts. CSR payments are a type of financial assistance that would help lower out-of-pocket costs for eligible individuals and families that enroll in a Silver Obamacare plan. “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that these healthcare reforms would have lowered healthcare premiums by 12.7 percent and reduced costs by decreasing the need for Obamacare EPTCs CSR. CSR would have lowered costs by $30.8 billion. “Andy Slavitt, President Barack Obama’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, in 2017 said that CSR payments would drastically reduce health insurance premiums: “Democrats have not once approached me, or my staff, to find a path forward. Republicans, time and again, have voted for policies that lower healthcare premiums by nearly double what extending Democrats’ temporary COVID Credits would. Democrats unanimously opposed these commonsense policies and actively worked to undermine our efforts to lower premiums for the 7 percent of Americans who choose to enroll in an Obamacare plan. We stand ready to work across the aisle to advance real solutions that address the root causes impacting health care affordability,’ Guthrie continued. “The Biden-era enhanced Obamacare credits were meant to alleviate the costs of the pandemic and will soon expire. The generous nature of the subsidies gave some of the wealthiest Americans access to these benefits. This includes, according to the Energy and Commerce Committee: In North Carolina, an early retiree worth over $10 million qualified for over $17,000 in annual taxpayer subsidies for his Obamacare plan. Accountants in Texas were actively advertising how they were helping multi-millionaires get free or nearly free health insurance based on Democrats’ temporary COVID Credits. A family of four in Arizona making $600,000 a year, a married couple in West Virginia making $580,000, a single person in Vermont making $180,000 a year… taxpayers were suddenly subsidizing these people’s Obamacare plans thanks to the Democrats’ temporary COVID Credit policy. “The Paragon Health Institute estimated that annual Obamacare enrollment fraud could exceed $26 billion. The same think tank also found that the expiring Obamacare credits minimally impacted 2026 premiums, which counters a Democrat narrative that the expiration of those credits is responsible for health insurance price increases.” ###