Dems plot health oversight blitz if they win midterms
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Democrats are eyeing aggressive oversight of controversial Trump administration moves on vaccines, Medicaid cuts and drug pricing if they flip control of one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Why it matters: If Democrats win the House, they would have much greater ability to investigate the Trump administration and its dealings with the health care industry, including through the use of subpoenas.
What they're saying: Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, told Axios that the Energy and Commerce Committee "has subpoena power, and this is a power that the Republicans, for some reason, have been reluctant to use."
- "We can subpoena all these people to come in. We can subpoena their documents. And if they won't do it, they would be in contempt of Congress," she added.
Driving the news: Two top targets are the administration's drug pricing deals with more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies and its moves to limit vaccine recommendations.
- DeGette said it is "absolutely" possible that House Democrats could subpoena drug companies for the details of their pricing deals with the administration, which the White House has not disclosed, citing confidentiality.
- Policy experts have said those details are needed to determine if the deals are actually lowering prices.
- "It's important to get that data as part of an overall investigation to see why drug costs are so high for Americans versus people in other parts of the world," DeGette said.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee and Energy and Commerce have also already been laying the groundwork for investigating the administration's vaccine moves if they are in the majority.
- A flurry of letters have sought internal documents on moves to limit recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine, as well as narrowing the childhood vaccine schedule more broadly.
The intrigue: While Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a magnet for controversy, some Democrats suggested they would not make a priority of calling him in to testify.
- "I think the Kennedy arguments, they come apart every day if not every hour," said Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
- "I think more likely ... I'm interested in [investigating] the cuts that they offered to the hospitals," Neal told Axios.
- The Medicaid cuts from Republicans' budget bill last year have been a major point of attack for Democrats. Work requirements will begin to take effect next year, bringing potential coverage losses.
Between the lines: There could be some turf battles as multiple House committees vie to investigate the administration's moves, though various panels have coordinated at times, such as on a letter seeking details of the drug pricing deals.
- Democrats are generally seen as less likely to win the Senate in November, but if they do, that would add even more oversight efforts.
- If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) returned to his role as Senate health committee chairman, he could seek to reprise efforts to pressure drug company executives to lower prices, as he did when Democrats controlled the chamber in 2023 and 2024.
