Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a press conference to address Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra’s failure to legally reappoint over a dozen top health officials, which led to the illegal spending of over $26 billion in taxpayer dollars.
As reported by Just The News, the press conference followed a letter that had been sent to Becerra on July 7th regarding his failure to follow the 21st Century Cures Act, a law passed in 2016 with bipartisan support. The Cures Act dictates that the HHS Secretary must reappoint the directors of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institute and Center every five years, starting in December of 2021. This would have included Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
As a result, those who continued to serve in their positions after December of 2021 were technically not legally allowed to do so any longer; thus, any spending undertaken on their watch would be illegal use of taxpayer money.
“There’s been a complete breakdown of accountability at the agency that has lost the trust of the American people, especially during COVID-19,” said Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “14 NIH officials, including Dr. Fauci, held unlawful positions and exercised authority that they didn’t have, which included approving $26 billion in grants.”
Rodgers added that although the committee’s request for information was “a pretty simple one,” the NIH misled the committee for at least a year as it tried to carry out an investigation. The committee had asked for the NIH to hand over documentation confirming that Becerra had correctly reappointed the officials.
“No one is above the law,” Rodgers added. “Americans need to know that their tax dollars are being spent responsibly, effectively, and lawfully and that the people making these decisions are lawfully authorized to make them.
The committee has since announced that it intends to hold a hearing for Secretary Becerra sometime around the end of July.