Two Democratic lawmakers are pushing the Trump administration to release documentation and information on federal contracts involving therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. Katie Porter, California Democrat, wrote the letter to the leadership of the Department of Defense, the Health and Human Services Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
“The American people deserve to know that the federal government is using their tax dollars to develop COVID-19 medical products at the best possible price for the public—not to line the pockets of wealthy companies by cutting corners in consumer protection, pricing, and quality,” wrote Ms. Warren and Ms. Porter. “Even the documents released by the federal government in response to Freedom of Information Act requests have been heavily redacted. These contracts, and affiliated documents, must be made available for public inspection.”
Ms. Warren, a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions member, and Ms. Porter, a House Committee on Oversight and Reform member, argued that the Trump administration has a “long history of cronyism and conflicts of interest” that predate their request.
The letter cannot compel the Trump administration to comply but may increase the pressure on the federal government to provide more details on the groups and companies involved in carrying out the nation’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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