NE Washington News

In a recent development, key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide the legal basis for HHS's decision to redact or hide the names of researchers found guilty of sexual misconduct. The request was made in a letter penned by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Representative August Pfluger (R-TX).

This inquiry follows Secretary Becerra's appearance before the Subcommittee on Health, during which he stated that legal prohibitions prevented him from releasing the names of individuals found guilty of sexual harassment to Congress. The committee members have requested that Secretary Becerra provide them with the legal justification for this stance by April 30, 2024.

The Committee first launched an investigation into the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) handling of sexual harassment at grantee institutions in August 2021. The scope was expanded in October 2023 to include complaints involving NIH scientists. After NIH failed to comply with requests for information, Chair Rodgers subpoenaed NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli to produce documents in February 2024.

In response, HHS offered a rolling in-camera document review to the Committee later that month. However, many documents presented in this review were heavily redacted, including names of individuals convicted of criminal offenses and details about institutions where abuse occurred. This has hindered the Committee's ability to determine if NIH continues to fund work performed by proven abusers at other institutions—a practice known as “passing the harasser.”

The Committee is also seeking whistleblowers with knowledge of sexual harassment at NIH or its grantee institutions, as well as those aware of how NIH handles such complaints. To ensure confidentiality and protection against retaliation, potential whistleblowers are advised to avoid using work resources or contact information and to consult an attorney experienced in representing whistleblowers before making a disclosure.

Individuals with relevant information can contact the Committee via email at ReportNIHAbuse@mail.house.gov for harassment at NIH, or ReportNIHGranteeAbuse@mail.house.gov for harassment at institutions that receive NIH grants.