House GOP holds first hearing on Biden’s COVID response

[ad_1]

House Republicans are planning their first hearings on the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response, summoning top federal health officials in Congress to testify in the coming weeks.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce plans to interview officials from federal agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), according to Bloomberg. The hearing is set for February 8.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell is due to appear at the hearing, an ASPR spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. The NIH has also confirmed that it will have a representative present.

Republicans have promised strong oversight of the Biden administration and the federal government in their campaign to retake the House midterm. Now with a slim majority, the GOP will try to deliver on that promise after years of accusing Democrats and the Biden administration of overriding vaccines and masking mandates.

Republicans on the Energy and Commerce panel, led by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), also asked CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and Acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak to to appear, according to Bloomberg.

Biden: I won’t let the GOP use the debt ceiling as a ‘bargaining chip’ 3-month-old conjoined twins separated in landmark surgery at Texas hospital

Walensky plans to testify at the hearing, according to Bloomberg.

“In his testimony, Dr. Walensky will highlight the agency’s work to better prepare the CDC and the nation against emerging health threats,” CDC spokesman Jason McDonald said in a mailed statement. e-mail to the press office. “She will lay out the significant progress made since she announced the reform initiative in August and again appeal to Congress for support for new data and workforce authorities.”

The CDC, FDA and Energy and Commerce Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[ad_2]