Welcome to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Hearing to evaluate safety measures implemented to protect athletes at all levels, from youth leagues to the Olympics and Paralympics Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today announced a subcommittee hearing titled "Timeout: Evaluating Safety Measures Implemented to Protect Athletes." “Congress created SafeSport to protect young athletes so predators like Larry Nassar will never harm children again. However, there have been hurdles to implementing the safety measures provided by the SafeSport program, including a lack of transparency to athletes who have submitted claims. This hearing will give Members an opportunity to hear from SafeSport, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, USA Softball, and the U.S. Soccer Federation as we examine how best to protect athletes from abuse and what challenges the SafeSport program faces to accomplish that goal. We must ensure athletes in our communities are healthy and safe from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse,” said Chairs Rodgers and Griffith.   Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing titled “Timeout: Evaluating Safety Measures Implemented to Protect Athletes.”   WHAT : A subcommittee hearing to discuss oversight of SafeSport’s ability to protect athletes, from youth sports to the Olympics.  DATE : Thursday, March 21, 2024   TIME : 10:30 AM ET  LOCATION : 2322 Rayburn House Office Building   WITNESSES :  Ms. Ju’Riese Colón, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Center for SafeSport  Ms. Nicole Deal , Senior Vice President for Security and Athlete Safety, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee   Mr. Craig Cress, Chief Executive Officer, USA Softball, Inc.  Ms. Mana Shim, Chair, U.S. Soccer Federation Participant Safety Task Force, U.S. Soccer Federation  This notice is at the direction of the Chair. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at https://energycommerce.house.gov/ . If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Lauren Eriksen with the Committee staff at Lauren.Eriksen@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Christopher Krepich at Christopher.Krepich@mail.house.gov .  

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) today announced a subcommittee hearing titled "Evaluating Approaches to Diagnostic Test Regulation and the Impact of the FDA’s Proposed Rule." “Patients and providers increasingly rely on the results of diagnostics to detect, guide treatment decisions, and monitor a host of medical conditions and illnesses. The FDA has proposed a rule that relies upon dubious and misguided legal, economic, and public health arguments and has provided limited opportunities for stakeholders to offer input. The proposed rule extends far beyond the scope of any legislative proposals and would threaten access to reliable tests for children and patients with rare diseases. Any paradigm-shifting changes to the current regulations must come from Congress—not the Executive Branch,” said Chair Rodgers and Guthrie.   Subcommittee on Health hearing titled "Evaluating Approaches to Diagnostic Test Regulation and the Impact of FDA’s Proposed Rule."   WHAT : A hearing to discuss the FDA’s proposed rule to regulate lab developed tests and alternative approaches to diagnostic regulation.  DATE : Thursday, March 21, 2024    TIME : 10:00 AM    LOCATION : 2123 Rayburn House Office Building    WITNESSES :  Susan Van Meter , President, American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA)   Zach Rothstein, JD , Executive Director, AdvaMedDx   Donald S. Karcher, MD, FCAP , President of the College of American Pathologists (CAP)  Jeff Allen , PhD, President and CEO, Friends of Cancer Research    Dara L. Aisner, MD, PhD , Medical Director, Colorado Molecular Correlates Laboratory, Professor of Pathology, University of Colorado; Representative of the Academic Coalition for Effective Laboratory Developed Tests  This notice is at the direction of the Chair. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at https://energycommerce.house.gov/ . If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Emma Schultheis with the Committee staff at Emma.Schultheis@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Christopher Krepich at Christopher.Krepich@mail.house.gov . 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released a statement applauding H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act , which passed out of the House today with a strong bipartisan vote of 352-65. “H.R. 7521 is the result of diligent and bipartisan efforts to protect Americans’ data and address the serious national security threat posed by our enemies. Applications controlled by foreign adversaries can be weaponized to target, manipulate, and surveil millions of Americans. This cannot continue. I commend Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) as well as our colleagues, Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi, for their leadership on this important legislation. I urge our colleagues in the Senate to act as swiftly as the House and advance this bill to the President’s desk.” 

Washington, D.C. — After public reports of a large-scale, year-long Medicare fraud scheme involving catheter billing, leaders from the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Accountability committees, along with GOP Doctors Caucus Co-Chairs, are seeking a briefing from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG) Christi Grimm and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. In a new letter, the lawmakers request briefings from the HHS IG and CMS by March 20, 2024, regarding what steps are being taken to address this reported fraud and prevent its reoccurrence.  KEY LETTER EXCERPTS : “It is imperative that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General take immediate action to reduce improper payments and ensure that taxpayer dollars are directed towards the care of our senior citizens whom Medicare is intended to serve. “Based on the information that is publicly known to date, the scale of the alleged catheter billing fraud, affecting over 450,000 Medicare beneficiaries, may represent a significant failure by CMS and HHS OIG. This dramatic, multifold increase in catheter billing—from just a handful of companies—should have been quickly identified and addressed. If public reports about the apparent ease with which this fraud was perpetrated are accurate, they raise questions about the efficacy of current CMS and the HHS OIG fraud detection and prevention measures. In addition, there are stakeholder concerns that a similar increase in fraud has occurred in diabetes supplies, and that this increase may be evidence of a new fraud against the Medicare program.” BACKGROUND : Public reporting estimates the cost of fraud from this scheme to be at least $2 billion. However, discussions between committee staff and stakeholders suggest the dollar figure may be closer to $3 billion. During the Trump administration, Medicare improper payments were reduced by billions per year. In the years since President Biden took office in January 2021, however, improper payments have increased dramatically. House Republicans have long raised the alarm about the prevalence of improper and fraudulent payments in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 2016, Republican Members of Congress wrote to then Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt to express concern over the rise in Medicare's improper payments. Under the Biden administration, Medicare improper payments have an estimated total of $87.72 billion. Members signing the letter include: Energy and Commerce: Full Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) Health Subcommittee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) Ways and Means Committee: Full Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) Health Subcommittee Chair Vern Buchanan (R-FL) Oversight Subcommittee Chair David Schweikert (R-AZ) Oversight and Accountability Committee: Full Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) Health Care and Financial Services Subcommittee Chair Lisa McClain (R-MI) GOP Doctors Caucus Co-Chair Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC) Co-Chair Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) Co-Chair Brad Wenstrup, D.P.M. (R-OH) CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Attempt to replace Kerry with John Podesta bypasses required Senate confirmation process Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) wrote to President Biden regarding his plan to flout Senate confirmation requirements in replacing outgoing climate czar John Kerry with John Podesta.  KEY EXCERPTS :  “Reports indicate John Podesta, who currently serves as a senior advisor to the President, will replace him as your primary envoy for international climate policy. However, in replacing Mr. Kerry, Mr. Podesta will serve under the title of Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy. This appears to be a blatant attempt to sidestep congressional oversight and install Mr. Podesta in a position that under federal law requires the advice and consent of the United States Senate. We are alarmed at your apparent decision to circumvent the law .  “This appointment is another example of your administration’s practice of creating new offices that do not require Senate confirmation or that do not have explicit statutory missions and constraints. By placing considerable policy authority with these individuals, you demonstrate a flagrant disregard for the separation of powers and congressional authority under both the Constitution and federal law .”  BACKGROUND :  At the start of his tenure, President Biden created the new Cabinet-level position of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) for John Kerry.   This position was not subject to the constitutional advice and consent role of the Senate, allowing him to avoid the Senate confirmation process, any transparency or disclosure requirements, and congressional oversight.  In 2021 in response to these concerns, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, legislation requiring that any “Special Envoy” or other position performing a similar function be subject to confirmation with the advice and consent of the Senate.  Congress intended that Mr. Kerry’s successor be covered by the statutory requirement.  As Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, Mr. Podesta appears to be assuming all of Mr. Kerry’s duties to act as an envoy for climate on the President’s behalf and to represent the interests of the United States in international policy negotiations.   There appears to be no distinction between this new title and the role of the SPEC.   Given the visibility and authority of this position and its similarity to the SPEC Office, any candidate for this position, including Mr. Podesta, should clearly be required to receive Senate confirmation.   The mere fact that Mr. Podesta will receive a different title and will be based in the White House, rather than the Department of State like his predecessor, does not obviate this statutory obligation.  CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter (R-GA) wrote to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan regarding the agency’s recent hiring blitz. The radical and partisan Inflation Reduction Act gave the EPA an unprecedented funding boost, which has led to the hiring of nearly 2,000 new agency employees.   As first reported by Breitbart:   “House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) have requested detailed information about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plans to carry out President Joe Biden’s climate change agenda.” […] “Despite their names, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as well as the Inflation Reduction Act both contain massive carveouts to boost the green industry.   “In a similar fashion, the $700 billion Inflation Reduction Act would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on climate change.”   The Chairs are seeking answers to the following questions:  The total number of employees working at the EPA’s headquarters. Please include a breakdown of the total number of full time equivalent (FTE) employees at each level of the General Schedule (GS) pay scale, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  The total number of employees working in each EPA regional office. Please include a breakdown of the total number of FTE employees at each level of the GS pay scale, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  The total number of FTE employees, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, employed within each of the following: Office of the Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, Office of General Counsel, Office of Inspector General, Office of International and Tribal Affairs, Office of Land and Emergency Management, Office of Mission Support, Office of Research and Development, and the Office of Water. Please include a breakdown of the total number of employees at each level of the GS pay scale in the various offices, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  Regarding the Office of Research and Development, please provide the total number of employees within each of the following: Office of Science Advisor, Policy, and Engagement, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, and the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  The total number of employees in each Program Office Laboratory and Regional Laboratory, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds, and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  A breakdown of Offices where the 1,977 new employees are employed, the level of the GS pay scale at which they were hired, and whether any of them are contractors paid with EPA funds.  The number of employees that left the agency in 2023, including a breakdown of the GS scale for departing employees, as well as any contractors paid with EPA funds.    The total number of contractors working for the EPA and how these numbers have changed since January 2021.  The total number of EPA special consultants who are compensated under 42 USC 209(f).  CLICK HERE to read the full article from Breitbart. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.