Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, announced subcommittee membership for the 119 th  Congress. “Today, I am proud to announce the House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee assignments for the 119 th Congress,”   said Chairman Guthrie.   “Energy and Commerce Republicans are ready to hit the ground running, delivering for President Trump’s America First agenda to restore the American Dream.” The Subcommittee Rosters are as follows: Subcommittee on  Communications and Technology: Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman Rep. Rick Allen (GA-12), Vice Chairman Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05) Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01) Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-02) Rep. John Joyce (PA-13) Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01) Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11) Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23) Rep. Erin Houchin (IN-09) Rep. Russell Fry (SC-07) Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07)  Rep. Craig Goldman (TX-12) Rep. Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL) Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio Subcommittee on  Energy: Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14), Vice Chairman Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06) Rep. Rick Allen (GA-12) Rep. Troy Balderson (OH-12) Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11) Rep. Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) Rep. John James (MI-10) Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02) Rep. Russell Fry (SC-07) Rep. Laurel Lee (FL-15) Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) Rep. Michael Rulli (OH-06) Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08) Rep. Craig Goldman (TX-12) Rep. Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL) Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio Subcommittee on  Health: Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01), Chairman Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-02), Vice Chairman Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) Rep. John Joyce (PA-13) Rep. Troy Balderson (OH-12) Rep. Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23) Rep. John James (MI-10) Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02) Rep. Erin Houchin (IN-09) Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07)  Rep. Michael Rulli (OH-06) Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio Subcommittee on  Environment: Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Vice Chairman Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05) Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01) Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06) Rep. John Joyce (PA-13) Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14) Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11) Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) Rep. Laurel Lee (FL-15) Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08) Rep. Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL) Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio Subcommittee on  Oversight & Investigations: Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman Rep. Troy Balderson (OH-12), Vice Chairman Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-02) Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14) Rep. Rick Allen (GA-12) Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01) Rep. Michael Rulli (OH-06) Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, & Trade: Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Vice Chairman Rep. Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23) Rep. John James (MI-10) Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02) Rep. Erin Houchin (IN-09) Rep. Russell Fry (SC-07) Rep. Laurel Lee (FL-15) Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07)  Rep. Gabe Evans (CO-08) Rep. Craig Goldman (TX-12)  Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Ex-Officio ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, announced the Committee’s Subcommittee Chief Counsels for the 119th Congress: Subcommittee on Communications and Technology  Chief Counsel - Kate Harper Kate O’Connor Harper will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, where she has served for the past 5 years. Kate previously served as the Chief of Staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where she worked on legislative and communications policy focused on spectrum and broadband issues. She also worked in NTIA’s Office of Congressional Affairs and engaged with Congress, state government officials, and other federal agencies to advance the Administration’s legislative initiatives on broadband and 5G. Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Chief Counsel - Giulia Leganski Giulia Leganski will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. Prior to this role, Giulia served as a Professional Staff Member for the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, handling issues related to Big Tech, Section 230, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, media, and public safety. Previously, Giulia worked as a Professional Staff Member for the House Small Business Committee, as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.  Subcommittee on Energy  Chief Counsel - Mary K. Martin Mary K. Martin will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Energy. Prior to her years at Energy and Commerce, Mary previously served as policy counsel and committee executive to the Environment, Technology & Regulatory Affairs Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Before joining the Chamber, Mary spent 10 years as an attorney in private practice litigating complex commercial disputes, including environmental contamination, toxic tort, breach of contract, and insurance coverage matters. Most recently, Mary served as Of Counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, D.C.  Subcommittee on Environment  Chief Counsel - Jake Tyner  Jake Tyner will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Environment. Jake has extensive Capitol Hill experience, most recently serving as General Counsel for Senator Dan Sullivan. In this role, Jake led the Senator’s efforts on issues related to energy, then environment, natural resources, and permitting and regulatory reform. Prior to joining Senator Sullivan’s office, Jake worked for Congressman David McKinley of West Virginia, the ranking member on the Environment & Climate Change Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives and at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Subcommittee on Health Chief Counsel - Jay Gulshen Jay Gulshen will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Health. Jay most recently served as a Senior Health Advisor for the Committee on Energy and Commerce, working on Medicare Part B and Part D. Prior to returning to Energy and Commerce, Jay worked for the Committee on Ways and Means, advising on Medicare Parts A and B, served as the Health Policy Advisor for Congressman Buddy Carter, and as a Legislative Associate for the Energy and Commerce’s Health Subcommittee. Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations  Chief Counsel - Brittany Havens Brittany Havens will serve as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Prior to this role, Brittany served as a Senior Oversight Counsel on the Committee on Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee working on a variety of issues, including oversight of federal agencies and programs; oversight of the tax-exempt sector; and legislation related to matters of tax administration. Prior to that, Brittany served in various roles for the Committee on Energy and Commerce between 2012 - 2022, most recently as a Professional Staff Member, conducting oversight on a wide range of topics within the Committee’s jurisdiction. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee staff will work under the direction of Staff Director Megan Jackson, Deputy Staff Director Sophie Khanahmadi, and Chief Counsel Joel Miller.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act. 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act. 

Letter comes on the eve of athletes competing in the Paris Olympics and after WADA’s President refused to attend an Energy and Commerce Committee oversight hearing Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka, bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders pressed for answers regarding WADA’s handling of positive doping cases within China’s national swimming team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The letter contains questions that bipartisan Committee Members would have asked during a recent Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing , which Mr. Banka was invited to attend but refused to appear. Witnesses that did testify at the hearing included: Michael Phelps, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Allison Schmitt, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Travis Tygart , Chief Executive Officer, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) KEY EXCERPTS:   “We write today to express our sincere disappointment at your refusal to accept our invitation to attend and provide testimony at our recent Subcommittee hearing. Members of Congress have important questions for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and are especially concerned about recent reports of your handling of dozens of cases of doping within the Chinese swimming team.  “WADA purports to maintain the integrity of sports by creating a fair and competitive sporting environment free from doping. As a U.S. taxpayer supported entity, WADA has a responsibility to the American people to ensure this integrity by enforcing international testing requirements. We believe WADA has fallen short of this important mission. ”  [...]   “ We are particularly concerned with the excessive deference being extended toward CHINADA—a state-funded operation with leadership deeply intertwined with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as current [Chinese Anti-Doping Agency] CHINADA director Li Zhiquan also serves as a Committee Secretary for the CCP. At a meeting in 2023, Zhiquan called on CHINADA employees to be 'loyal to the party' and to 'hold high the great banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.' Furthermore, WADA’s reported sponsorship arrangement with ANTA Sports—the Chinese athletic company sponsoring the Chinese Olympic Committee and China’s national swimming federation—could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Since WADA is expected to uphold and maintain international anti-doping standards, WADA’s apparent lack of skepticism and failure to enforce the rules against CHINADA is troubling. While we are aware that WADA has opened an investigation, we are concerned that international scrutiny was necessary to force due diligence that should be routine .”  [...]  “This incident unfortunately reinforces our concern that WADA appears to be reverting to its previous poor management practices.”  [...]  “With the Paris Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony just a day away , the Committee seeks to better understand the circumstances surrounding WADA’s decision not to appeal the decision to clear the twenty-three swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine.”   BACKGROUND :  In January 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers (“23 swimmers”) tested positive for trimetazidine, or TMZ, a banned substance improperly used to increase stamina and hasten recovery times.  Three months after the positive tests, CHINADA initiated an investigation into the source of the TMZ and by June 2021 claimed the athletes ingested the banned substance through food tainted in a hotel kitchen.  According to reporting, Chinese investigators “offered no explanation […] for how a prescription drug available only in pill form had contaminated an entire kitchen.”  In reliance on “external legal advice” and its science department, WADA determined that CHINADA’s claims were “plausible” and chose not to appeal the decision or further investigate the matter.  Three of these Chinese swimmers went on to win gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in July of 2021.  China has selected 11 swimmers that tested positive for TMZ before the Tokyo Games to compete in the upcoming Paris Games.  In a strikingly similar case, Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater, also tested positive for the banned substance TMZ during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.  The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) issued a provisional suspension but was quickly cleared by RUSADA’s discipline board, since Valieva claimed she ingested the substance by mistake through a contaminated source.  Rather than simply accept RUSADA’s contamination explanation, WADA appealed the decision and ultimately, Valieva received a four-year ban from competition and was retroactively stripped of her gold medal. The letter was signed by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL). CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Oversight and Acoountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) sent letters to eight federal agencies today following the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , in which the court overruled Chevron deference. Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) joined Chairs Rodgers and Comer on an additional letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “We write to call to your attention Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a recent Supreme Court decision that precludes courts from deferring to agency interpretations when the statutes are ambiguous. In its decision, the Court explicitly overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), which required deference to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. By allowing such deference, the Court in Chevron enabled the ‘Administrative State’ to usurp the legislative authority that the Constitution grants exclusively to Congress in Article I. The Chevron decision led to broader, more costly and more invasive agency regulation of Americans’ lives, liberty, and property.   “Perhaps no administration has gone as far as President Biden’s in issuing sweeping Executive edicts based on questionable assertions of agency authority. The Biden administration has promulgated far more major rules, imposing vast costs and paperwork burdens, than either its most recent predecessors. Many of these rules...have been based on overreaching interpretations of statutes enacted by Congress years ago, before the issues now regulated were even imagined.   “The expansive Chevron deference has undermined our system of government, creating an unaccountable Administrative State. Thankfully, the Court has now corrected this pattern, reaffirming that ‘[i]t is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’ Given the Biden administration’s record of agency overreach, we are compelled to underscore the implications of Loper Bright and remind you of the limitations it has set on your authority.”   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Environmental Protection Agency. CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Communications Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Trade Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to Department of Commerce.   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Department of Energy.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration.