Becerra Faces Heat From Congress Over Slow Response to Demands

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was on Capitol Hill this week getting hand shakes, hugs and some berating from his old colleagues in the House over a lack of responsiveness from his agency.

Becerra’s relationship with his former colleagues on both sides of the aisle is being tested by the demands of his new job, lawmakers say. Running the largest domestic agency means making decisions many don’t agree with and answering for those decisions.

President Joe Biden is relying on Congress to accomplish key goals, from funding its Covid response programs to passing sweeping clean energy and drug pricing overhaul.

Becerra and his team have “some catch up work here because on both sides of the aisle, members have made reference to writing, but they haven’t had their questions answered,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) told Becerra during a hearing Wednesday.

Lawmakers say they are facing slow, unsubstantial, or no responses from the HHS, even though Becerra was a longtime member of Congress before joining the Biden administration and faced the same issues.

Senate Republicans blame a slow administration response about how Covid funds have been spent for delays in negotiating new pandemic money.

Becerra’s allies in Congress say he has been available to them for input in key policy matters but isn’t leading HHS to act at the whims of his old friends.

“Xavier knows what it’s like to be on the other branch of government, where our job is to hold the administration accountable,” Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), who has known Becerra since before their time in Congress together, said. “He has been forthright about answering the questions posed to him and he’s direct.”

After two days of hearings where he was repeatedly asked about responding to letters from lawmakers or requests for information, Becerra said in an interview he gives members his personal cell number and talks regularly with lawmakers. He said he tries to respond to each one.

“As a former member, I know how important it is to respond,” Becerra said. “At the same time, I hope I can make clear to them that where I’m allowed to respond, I will.”

‘Waiting for Congress’

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said he’s been pushing since the launch of Operation Warp Speed in the Trump administration for details of vaccine contracts with drugmakers. He said he was stonewalled by Trump officials and now Becerra—an ally during their time together in Congress—tells him his hands are tied too.

Doggett has also pushed for the Biden administration to use executive authority to lower drug prices rather than wait for Congress to act.

“The attitude of the administration—not specifically Secretary Becerra, who I think is an advocate for reform—is, ”We’re waiting to see what Congress will do,’” Doggett said. “Well, we saw that with the last administration. Congress will do nothing.”

Access to the Agency

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), who disagreed with limiting coverage of Biogen’s Aduhelm, said in an interview that she was granted a meeting with Medicare’s top administrator, Chiquita Brooks-Lasure, last week. Brooks-LaSure didn’t offer to change Medicare’s policy, Baragan said, but she was willing to explain the agency’s rationale for the decision.

“They were generous and helpful,” she said of the meeting. “I continue to feel strongly about this and I’ll continue to speak out about it, but they did talk with me.”

Becerra is set to visit Oregon next week and meet with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and other officials on health matters.

Becerra is “just been overwhelmed. My heart goes out to him in terms of dealing with that sprawling agency and so many contentious items,” Blumenauer said in an interview. “That’s an impossible job.”

Republican Frustration

Three Republican lawmakers individually brought up inadequate or no response from the HHS during a House Ways and Means hearing Thursday, a committee on which Becerra served while in Congress.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) said he discussed an issue about an emergency intake site for unaccompanied minors with Becerra in April and June 2021. Becerra “committed to get me an answer in a timely manner,” he said.

“Instead, the department sent me—and I have a copy of the letter—and mostly what it is is ‘Thank you. Thank you for inquiring,” said Kelly.

Kelly also said in response to three letters on a separate issue, the National Institutes of Health told him that the agency did nothing wrong and offered, “You should go onto the website if you have any further questions.”

“I’m just asking, please, sometime before I expire or you leave office, please get me an answer to these questions I have,” Kelly said to Becerra.

Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) complained he sent bipartisan letters to HHS asking about the decision to limit coverage of a new Alzheimer’s disease treatment but got no response.

“If you can’t respond, you shouldn’t be here,” LaHood told Becerra .

Becerra responded that his office often can’t respond as they form regulations.

“We do have a great volume of work we have to do, and we respond as best we can and where we can,” Becerra said. “Oftentimes we can’t because we’re under obligation to remain silent.”

“I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been much follow up if at all from him. Last year we talked about working on issues that the secretary believes we can work on together. We’ve gotten very little follow up,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said in an interview.

Tension Between Branches

There’s a procedure for responding to written requests from Congress at every Cabinet department, said Kristine Blackwood, former deputy director for Congressional Oversight and Investigations in the Office of the Secretary for Health and Human Services and now counsel at Arnold and Porter.

Depending upon the subject matter, the initial response comes from the relevant agency. For example, a question about the Medicare program would go to the subject matter experts at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and would be drafted with their office of legislation. That response then goes through a clearance process through the relevant career and political staff “because it’s really an official communication between the executive branch and the congressional branch,” she said.

If there is “some unity of purpose” across party lines on an issue, then “the executive branch is likely to be more responsive and likely to take it more seriously,” Blackwood said.

“You need to have good friends in Congress,” Blackwood said. “That’s the other side of the congressional oversight coin, is that you have to have a working relationship.”