Washington, D.C. – This morning, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News to share how she is leading House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans in an investigation to hold Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra accountable. 

Secretary Becerra failed to follow the Constitution and the law to lawfully reappoint 14 senior officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including Dr. Anthony Fauci, when their terms expired in December 2021. As a result, these 14 NIH officials held unlawful positions and exercised authority they didn’t have—such as approving $26 billion in grants.

Check out highlights from the interview below.

Dr. Fauci was in a position, along with 13 other @NIH officials, making decisions over $26 billion of grants without a lawful appointment.

They have not been accountable to Congress or the American people. We're continuing to demand that @SecBecerra answer our questions. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/l5UEUGjLxX

— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) July 11, 2023

BECERRA’S FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE LAW

 “We have uncovered through our investigation that HHS Secretary Becerra did not follow federal law when he failed to reappoint leaders at NIH, including Dr. Fauci.

 “Dr. Fauci, who was the highest paid federal employee, has made decisions—as well as these other leaders at NIH—over billions of dollars in grants, including the most recent grant to EcoHealth Alliance.

 “We know that EcoHealth Alliance is the one that facilitated research at the Wuhan lab in China.

 “These individuals were to be reappointed [in December 2021]. This is an accountability measure that was put into the law by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act because we believed it was important that these individuals be held accountable.”

HHS NOT COOPERATING WITH INVESTIGATION

“Health and Human Services and public health agencies have not been accountable to Congress across the board.

 “They [HHS] lied to us in early 2022. HHS said that they had made the appointments and that they couldn’t produce the documents.

 “Secretary Becerra just recently retroactively made these appointments. It raises a lot of questions.”

 OFFICIALS UNLAWFULLY APPROVED BILLIONS

 “Dr. Fauci was in a position, along with these other officials, making decisions over billions of dollars of grants without a proper appointment… Secretary Becerra did not follow the Constitution or federal law in ensuring that these individuals are acting lawfully.

“They’ve not been accountable to Congress or the American people for that matter, and we are going to continue to demand that these questions are answered.”

CLICK HERE to read more about the Committee’s findings.

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