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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 that UnitedHealth Group, Inc., CEO Andrew Witty will testify before the Subcommittee on May 1. UnitedHealth is the parent company of Change Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest providers of health care payment management systems, which experienced a cyberattack on its platforms on February 21, 2024. "Americans are still dealing with the fallout of the Change Healthcare hack. Individuals and smaller providers, in particular, have struggled financially following the cyberattack, threatening critical access for patients,” said Chairs Rodgers and Griffith. “While we’re disappointed that UnitedHealth could not join us for the recent Health Subcommittee hearing on cybersecurity, we look forward to learning more on what happened in the lead up to, and in the weeks following, the attack. This hearing will help inform the Committee as we continue working toward solutions that protect the health and well-being of all Americans.” WHAT : A hearing to discuss the cyberattack on Change Healthcare and how it impacts patients and providers. DATE : Wednesday, May 1, 2024     TIME : 2:00 PM ET LOCATION : 2123 Rayburn House Office Building WITNESSES : Andrew Witty, CEO, UnitedHealth Group, Inc.   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 Kennedy with the Committee staff at Lauren.Kennedy@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Christopher Krepich at Christopher.Krepich@mail.house.gov .  NOTE :  On April 15, the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Full Committee and Health and Oversight subcommittees wrote a letter to Mr. Witty seeking more information about the cyberattack.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) announced a series of upcoming budget hearings with Biden administration officials as part of the Committee’s ongoing efforts to hold the administration accountable on behalf the American people. “President Biden’s radical, out-of-touch, tax-and-spend agenda will only make the inflation crisis he caused worse for the American people. By bending to the whims of his left-wing base, he’s sacrificing freedom and prosperity for all Americans,” said Chair Rodgers . “It’s nearly three and a half years into his presidency, and all the Biden administration has to show is a war on American energy, a worse national and cybersecurity posture, and a weakened American role on the world stage. These hearings will give our Members the opportunity to ensure this administration is transparent and accountable to the American people.” The following administration officials will testify for budget hearings:  Wednesday, May 1 Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Hearing with the Department of Energy:   Hon. Jennifer Granholm, Secretary, Department of Energy   Tuesday, May 7 Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Hearing with the Federal Communications Commission:   Hon. Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission   Hon. Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission   Hon. Nathan Simington, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission   Hon. Geoffrey Starks, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission   Hon. Anna Gomez, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission   Wednesday, May 15 Subcommittee on Environmental, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Hearing with the Environmental Protection Agency:   Hon. Michael Regan, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency   Wednesday, May 15 Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Hearing with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration:   Hon. Alan Davidson, Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration   This notice is at the direction of the Chair. The hearings 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 Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearings, please contact Noah Jackson at Noah.Jackson@mail.house.gov .  If you have any questions concerning the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security or Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials hearings, please contact Kaitlyn Peterson at Kaitlyn.Peterson@mail.house.gov .  If you have any press-related questions, please contact Sean Kelly at Sean.Kelly@mail.house.gov .

Next Steps for the American Privacy Rights Act House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined NewsNation’s Markie Martin on Wake Up America this morning to discuss the Committee’s legislative hearing on the American Privacy Rights Act as well as next steps for the draft legislation. Highlights and excerpts from the interview below: PUTTING AMERICANS IN CONTROL OF THEIR DATA “[This bill] would mean that you would be able to know what profile [companies] have collected on you. “There would be a limited amount of data that would be collected to begin with, sensitive data, like your location data and your search engine history—personal information that identifies you. [...] “It puts individuals back in control. This is important to all Americans. “Parents are calling upon Congress to act because we know that too many people are being targeted, especially our kids, and manipulated for dangerous purposes.” DANGERS OF UNCHECKED DATA COLLECTION "Ultimately it is Big Tech that is manipulating how you think and how you act. “We heard testimony yesterday at the hearing from a young lady, Ava, who talked about the troves of data, really an arsenal of data, that had been collected on her by her search history, but also just staying on a post for too long. “They were able to identify her vulnerabilities and ultimately take her down this path that led to an eating disorder. “And unfortunately, these are the kinds of stories that are repeated over and over where they're able to predict how we think and how we act and, too many times, bad actors are using it for purposes that are very destructive.” NEXT STEPS FOR THE AMERICAN PRIVACY RIGHTS ACT “Members on both sides of the aisle know that we need to act. “I'm really excited that we've been able to hammer out an agreed upon proposal that is bipartisan and also bicameral. House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats coming together. “We've been working on this for years, but now is the time to act. “At yesterday's hearing in the House, members on both sides of the aisle expressed so much encouragement for a draft proposal, a national privacy standard, that we will be able to put into place to protect all Americans online, but especially our children. “Many members have been involved in efforts through the years but the time to act is now and we've reached an agreement on a draft bill that we plan to keep moving through this process. “As the Chair of the Committee, we had the hearing, now we're going to start working through actually introducing the bill, as well as the kids’ online safety bills, and moving them through the legislative process to get them onto the Floor and ultimately the President's desk.”  

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), on behalf of the Health and Oversight Subcommittee Republicans, wrote to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra.  The letter outlines concerns with the role HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) plays—or fails to play—in investigating instances of sexual harassment that occurs at research institutions which receive grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  KEY EXCERPTS :  “There have been several public reports of sexual harassment occurring on NIH-funded research or NIH-supported activities over the last decade, and it raises concerns about what, if any, actions the NIH has taken to resolve these issues. The NIH’s own statistics show a significant problem with more than 300 cases related to sexual or gender harassment since 2018—with about a third of those allegations being substantiated. This also represents hundreds of men and women who may be forced to operate in a hostile or unsafe research environment.”  [...]  “According to the HHS website, OCR does investigate and resolve complaints of sexual harassment in the education and health programs of recipients of grants or other federal financial assistance from HHS—including the NIH. Moreover, HHS OCR is required to conduct periodic compliance reviews of institutional Title IX programs to ensure compliance with the law—including examining the way in which complaints are handled by the institution.”  The Chairs have requested answers to questions about HHS OCR’s role by April 30, 2024.  BACKGROUND :  Based on a recommendation from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), HHS OCR and the NIH adopted a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate communication between the two components of HHS as it relates to sexual harassment.   This MOU was intended to clarify procedures on how the enforcement arm of HHS and the grant-making arm share valuable information with one another in an effort to respond appropriately to complaints of sexual harassment and prevent federal grant money from going to those with a history of sexual misconduct.   TIMELINE OF INVESTIGATION :  August 10, 2021 : E&C Republican Leaders Question NIH’s Handling of Sexual Harassment Complaints  August 11, 2022 : E&C Republican Leaders follow up with NIH on Insufficient Response to its Letter on the NIH’s handling of Sexual Harassment  November 30, 2022 : E&C Republicans to NIH: Turn Over Previously Requested Information Ahead of New Congress  March 14, 2023 : E&C Republicans Press NIH for Information on Handling of Sexual Harassment Complaints  October 6, 2023 : E&C Republicans Signal Intent to Issue Subpoenas to Obtain Information on NIH’s Handling of Sexual Harassment if Questions Go Unanswered  January 26, 2024 : Chair Rogers notifies NIH of Imminent Subpoena  February 5, 2024 : Chair Rodgers Subpoenas NIH for Documents Related to Investigation into Sexual Harassment at NIH and NIH Grantee Institutions February 20, 2024: HHS Responds on behalf of NIH to offer a rolling in camera document review to the Committee. Documents produced in the review have been highly redacted, including the redaction of the names of individuals convicted of criminal offenses, public news articles about individuals who have been found guilty of harassment, and redaction of the names of the institutions where the abuse occurred—effectively preventing the Committee from understanding if NIH continues to fund work performed by substantiated abusers at other institutions—a practice known as “pass the harasser.”

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Ranking Member Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL) wrote to UnitedHealth Group, Inc., CEO Andrew Witty today seeking information about the cyberattack on Change Healthcare. Change Healthcare, which was acquired by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary in 2022, is one of the nation’s largest providers of health care payment management systems. On February 21, UnitedHealth Group reported it had experienced a cyberattack on its platforms, and it had taken all Change Healthcare systems offline to contain the incident. As a result of the outage, critical services affecting patient care—including billing services, claims transmittals, and eligibility verifications—became inoperable. Though UnitedHealth first notified users that it expected the disruption to “last at least through the day,” several of the company’s products have now been inoperable for more than a month. “Change Healthcare is a central player in the country’s health care system, which has been upended by the recent breach,” t he bipartisan Committee leaders wrote to Mr. Witty. “We are interested in your efforts to secure Change Healthcare’s systems since it was acquired by your company and the efforts you are taking to restore system functionality and support patients and providers affected by the attack.” Change Healthcare’s platforms touch an estimated one in three U.S. patient records. Its systems process roughly 15 billion transactions annually, and are linked to approximately 900,000 physicians, 118,000 dentists, 33,000 pharmacies, and 5,500 hospitals nationwide. The breadth of Change Healthcare’s infrastructure all but ensures that the scope of the current disruption, and any disruption in Change Healthcare services, will be extensive. “The health care system is rapidly consolidating at virtually every level, creating fewer redundancies and more vulnerability to the entire system if an entity with significant market share at any level of the system is compromised,” the Committee leaders wrote. “In order to understand better the steps UnitedHealth has taken to address this situation, we request information about the impact of the cyberattack, the actions the company is taking to secure its systems, and the outreach to the health care community in the aftermath.” As a result of the system outage, providers reportedly struggled to make payroll while some patients have been forced to pay out of pocket for crucial medications including cancer therapy drugs and insulin because pharmacies are unable to verify coverage. The Committee leaders requested answers to a series of detailed questions by April 29, 2024. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) led 26 of their colleagues in filing a bicameral amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit in support of state and industry challengers to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called “Good Neighbor” air rule that targets American power production and burdens states with misguided air regulations. “Acting well beyond its delegated powers under the [Clean Air Act], EPA’s Rule proposes to remake the energy sector in the affected states toward the Agency’s preferred ends. The Rule is part of the broader joint EPA-White House Strategy that oversteps the Agency’s authority by concurrently developing regulations under three separate environmental statutes. It does so not to meet any of the statutes’ individual ends but to transform the power sector. "The group of regulations—including the Rule—are designed to hurriedly rid the U.S. power sector of fossil fuels by sharply increasing the operating costs for fossil fuel-fired power plant operators, forcing the plants’ premature retirement,” the brief reads in part. BACKGROUND: The so-called “Good Neighbor” rule imposes overreaching emissions requirements on power plants, natural gas pipeline assets, and industrial plants, like steel, cement, and paper production facilities in 23 states. Other federal courts have already frozen implementation of the rule in 12 states. Despite active Supreme Court proceedings that may halt implementation of the rule nationwide, the EPA has remained committed to the illegal rule and recently proposed to add five more states to the program.  In June 2023 , Capito joined Wicker in introducing a formal challenge to the rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.  In June 2023, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) also introduced H.J.Res. 69, a formal challenge to the rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.  In June 2022 , Ranking Member Capito sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan outlining serious concerns with the proposed “Good Neighbor Plan.”  Ranking Member Capito has criticized the EPA’s proposed “Good Neighbor Plan” during EPW hearings in March 2023 , July 2022 , and May 2022 , and in an op-ed .  In November 2023 , Chairs Rodgers, Duncan, and Johnson sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission expressing concerns with the impact of EPA’s suite of rules, including the “Good Neighbor” Rule (or Interstate Transport Rule), on the reliability of the nation’s electric grid. In addition to Capito and Wicker, senators who signed on to brief include, John Barrasso, (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and John Thune (R-SD). In addition to Rodgers, House members who signed on to the brief include, Rick Allen (R-GA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), John Curtis (R-UT), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Richard Hudson (R-NC), John James (R-MI), John Joyce (R-PA), Bob Latta (R-OH), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Gary Palmer (R-AL), Greg Pence (R-IN), August Pfluger (R-TX), Tim Walberg (R-MI), and Randy Weber (R-TX).  Full text of the brief is available here .