Senate Democrats are again insisting that administration officials release the contracts they negotiated with more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to lower drug prices.
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“Here we are, months later, with six written requests, legislation to compel release, and a Cabinet secretary’s commitment. And I have not seen a single page,” Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote Wednesday to Chris Klomp, the chief counselor of the Department of Health and Human Services. The letter was shared with The Washington Post.
The Post last week published portions of the administration’s contracts with two of the companies, Pfizer and Eli Lilly. Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog, obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Wyden cited The Post’s report in his letter.
“The only two agreements that have surfaced, with Pfizer and Eli Lilly, were pried loose through Freedom of Information Act litigation, and arrived heavily redacted,” Wyden wrote.
Klomp, who was pressed by Wyden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and other Democrats to answer additional questions over the weekend, has defended the administration’s decision to withhold the contracts.
“Numerous federal agencies are involved in this process and the release of proprietary and confidential information could delay or jeopardize the goal we both share: lower drug prices for Americans,” Klomp wrote in a response posted by the Senate Finance Committee on Monday.
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Under pressure from lawmakers, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April testified in a Senate hearing that he would release the contracts but has not done so. Democrats also pressed Klomp, Trump’s pick to serve as Kennedy’s top deputy, to release the contracts at a pair of confirmation hearings last week.
Democratic lawmakers, health-policy experts and government transparency experts have said that the contracts should be released so that the public can judge the effectiveness of Trump’s initiative to lower drug prices. Democrats cannot subpoena records of the contracts because they do not currently control a chamber of Congress.
The president has said his initiative, dubbed “Most Favored Nation,” has saved billions of dollars and should help Republicans keep control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
HHS did not immediately respond to questions about the contracts.
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