News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, announced a hearing titled Evaluating FirstNet: Performance, Accountability, and Reauthorization.

“Starting out as a 9/11 Commission recommendation to strengthen emergency communications infrastructure, FirstNet has been a critical resource for first responders operating in moments of crisis,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Hudson. “As we continue to prepare for future man-made or natural disasters, FirstNet must remain on the leading edge of safety and reliability. We believe this reauthorization is a critical opportunity to increase transparency and effectiveness, so the program can fully achieve the intended goals that were originally conceived of two decades ago.”

Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing titled Evaluating FirstNet: Performance, Accountability, and Reauthorization.

WHAT: Subcommittee on Communications and Technology legislative hearing on FirstNet reauthorization.

DATE: Wednesday, February 4, 2026

TIME: 10:15 AM ET

LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

This hearing will focus on the following bill:

• H.R. ____, The First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act (Reps. Dunn and McClellan)

This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at energycommerce.house.gov. If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Noah Jackson at Noah.Jackson@mail.house.gov. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Daniel Kelly at Daniel.Kelly@mail.house.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, announced a hearing titled Oversight of FERC: Advancing Affordable and Reliable Energy for All Americans.

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) plays a vital role in ensuring that families and businesses across the country have access to reliable and affordable electricity and natural gas,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Latta. “It’s critical that FERC continues to address the efficient permitting of interstate natural gas pipelines to deliver the energy upon which our communities rely. This hearing will offer the opportunity to discuss the work that is being done to help strengthen our electric grid and to increase resources for onshoring advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, all while lowering costs for hard-working families across the country.”

Subcommittee on Energy hearing titled Oversight of FERC: Advancing Affordable and Reliable Energy for All Americans.

WHAT: Subcommittee on Energy hearing to discuss oversight of FERC.

DATE: Tuesday, February 3, 2026

TIME: 10:15 AM ET

LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at energycommerce.house.gov. If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Seth Ricketts at Seth.Ricketts@mail.house.gov. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Ben Mullany at Ben.Mullany@mail.house.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, announced a hearing titled Common Schemes, Real Harm: Examining Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.

“The goal of this hearing is to understand current trends in fraud schemes targeting Medicare and Medicaid nationwide—how taxpayer dollars are being wasted, how beneficiaries are affected, and how transnational crime organizations are increasingly involved—and explore ways to better prevent and detect fraud,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Joyce. “As fraud schemes are being perpetrated across the United States, it’s important we recognize that we cannot preserve our Medicare and Medicaid programs for our most vulnerable if we don’t combat destructive fraud that is draining the system. We applaud actions that the Trump Administration has already taken to address these schemes, and we look forward to continuing to explore, and implement, solutions that root out fraud in our government health programs.”

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing titled Common Schemes, Real Harm: Examining Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.

WHAT: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on how fraudsters are draining state and federal governments through fraud in our government-run health programs.

DATE: Tuesday, February 3, 2026

TIME: 10:30 AM ET

LOCATION: 2360 Rayburn House Office Building

This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. This hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed at ** energycommerce.house.gov **. If you have any questions about this hearing, please contact Annabelle Huffman with the Committee staff at ** Annabelle.Huffman@mail.house.gov **. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Katie West at ** Katie.West@mail.house.gov **.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing titled Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of Health Insurance Affordability.

Subcommittee Chairman Griffith’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:

“Today we will discuss health care costs and patient access challenges by examining affordability across the entire health insurance marketplace.

“This hearing builds on work Republicans have done this Congress to address health care affordability.

“We plan to have future hearings with other leaders and experts across the health care continuum to understand the root causes of rising health care costs.

“Specifically, this hearing will focus on the role insurers play in the delivery of care.

“The insurance market is dominated by a handful of Fortune 50 corporations that control the majority of the national market.

“In some states, a single insurer may even control 80 or 90 percent of a particular market.

“The biggest health insurers today often manage several facets of the health care supply chain, such as owning the pharmacy benefit managers; the group purchasing organizations; multiple provider groups; and specialty or mail-order pharmacies.

“Even with owning those, complicated benefit designs, narrow networks, prior authorization requirements, and opaque coverage decisions often leave patients feeling like they are paying more for less.

“The market also lacks transparency and is not easily navigable.

“One contributor to health insurance unaffordability for millions of Americans is the so called ‘Affordable Care Act,’ also known as Obamacare, that was signed into law in 2010.

“When Democrats passed Obamacare, without Republican support, they sold the bill on the promises that premiums would fall, competition would rise, and ‘if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it.’

“Instead, Obamacare has increased health care costs, warped incentives, federalized benefits, restricted plan design, and limited access to care.

“Many patients have fewer plan choices than they did before Obamacare was enacted. In fact, a constituent told me recently that his family only has one provider option. Therefore, Obamacare coverage is not translating to patient or taxpayer affordability.

“Unfortunately, employer-sponsored insurance is also becoming unaffordable, and, each year, more American small businesses choose not to offer health insurance because it is too costly.

“This impacts the ability for a small business to be competitive and attract talent.

“We know two things are true:

“Competition is essential for patient access! Lack of competition and consolidation within the insurance marketplace has led us to higher health care costs as a whole.

“The health care system needs to work for patients.

“That means empowering individuals with real choices, transparent prices, and coverage that fits their needs.

“We must strive to have more competitive plan options that reward quality and focus on affordability, access, and outcomes.

“Our discussion today is meant to move beyond politics and spur debate about how we can work toward delivering meaningful, innovative solutions for the Americans that we serve.

“We owe it to patients to get to the root causes of the challenges we see across the health sector, and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, led a hearing titled Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of Health Insurance Affordability, featuring witness testimony from the biggest health insurance plan CEOs in the United States. During the hearing, Committee Republicans held health insurance plans accountable in their role of increasing health care affordability challenges impacting all Americans and discuss how Democrat policy failures in Washington D.C. have warped the American health care system and hurt patients access to high-quality health coverage options.

“Many patients have fewer plan choices than they did before Obamacare was enacted. Therefore, Obamacare coverage is not translating to patient or taxpayer affordability,” said Chairman Griffith. “We owe it to patients to have a health system that offers real choices, transparent prices, and coverage that fits their needs, and I look forward to seeing how today’s conversation presents solutions to make health care more affordable for all Americans.”

Watch the full hearing ** here **.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02): “Experts, including the Congressional Budget Office, estimated that the expiration of the temporary Obamacare enhanced COVID Credit is projected to increase premiums by anywhere from 4 percent and 8 percent, depending on the market. Yet, many areas for 2026, insurers requested and were approved for premium increases of 30 percent, 40 percent, even 50 percent. So, Mrs. Boudreaux, you’re in Kentucky. The average Elevance Obamacare plan increased its premium by roughly 24 percent. Despite what Democrats would have the American people believe, the temporary COVID Credit does little to actually lower underlying Obamacare premiums and the American taxpayers are footing the bill. So, Mrs. Boudreaux, by your best estimation—even if the Democrats’ temporary COVID Credits were extended—would Obamacare plan bids in my state of Kentucky increase or decrease between 2026 and 2025?” Mrs. Boudreaux: “Well, thank you very much for the question, Congressman. You know, as we’ve shared, premiums reflect the underlying costs...” Chairman Guthrie: “So, they would have increased, right?”

Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “Since the passage of the ACA, we have seen costs across all markets continue to increase. One of the key issues driving this is the medical loss ratio, or the MLR, that requires plans to spend either 80 percent or 85 percent of your premium dollars on health care expenses. The MLR created multiple perverse incentives for insurance companies to dramatically consolidate both vertically and horizontally. The companies that you lead today are not just involved in insurance. You own PBMs, you own specialty pharmacies, you own retail pharmacies, you own GPOs, you own physician groups and practices. In some cases, you own hospitals, and you own drug manufacturing companies. And at least one of you owns a bank! This has led to alleged cases of self-dealing, as your companies work to circumvent the [multi-level marketing] requirements.”

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “The largest PBMs—CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum—have created rebate contracting entities, or PBM group purchasing organizations, which are adding to the complex and opaque nature of the medicine supply chain. My first PBM reform bill on transparency was in 2019, as an Iowa state senator. PBMs claim these entities provide them and their clients with greater bargaining power to lower costs, but recent investigations by Members of Congress, industry experts, state attorneys general, and federal oversight agencies suggest the opposite may be true. We have a graph up here. Let’s start with the left. The drugmaker pays rebates directly to the PBMs and PBM GPOs to ensure their drugs are included on their health plan formularies—meaning the drugs are covered by insurance. Then, these PBMs and their PBM GPO subsidiaries collect the rebates, which they promise to pass through to their patients and health plans. Can any of you tell me what percentage of rebates are passed through to the patient, who is paying a higher drug cost because the rebates are added to the price of the drug?” Top Health Insurers: “...” Congresswoman Miller-Meeks: “Is it zero?” Top Health Insurers: “...” Congresswoman Miller-Meeks: “You don’t even know that you’re not giving these patients back a rebate for paying higher drug prices.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, led a hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law, Strengthen Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing.

“The process for reviewing new chemicals – which was a significant focus of the 2016 effort – is broken. This regulatory uncertainty makes it difficult for the chemical industry to bring safer alternatives or new technology to the market in the U.S. and impacts human health and the environment by slowing the transition to safer alternatives,” said Chairman Palmer. “The bill would reauthorize the fee provision for another 10 years and require increased transparency and accountability in how fees are used by EPA.”

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “Dr. White, we've had this discussion and my colleagues have opened the door, but I want to give you an opportunity to speak to how provisions in this legislative proposal today will guide EPA to focus their consideration on conditions that reasonably could be foreseen, and not just theoretical or even unlikely, because I think we're opening up potential areas that will waste time to be able to allow important chemicals to be assessed. Can you discuss that for us, please?” Dr. White: “For every single chemical that the EPA has evaluated since TSCA was modernized, they have found it to be an unreasonable risk. This has really been because of their scientific practices and principles. They have ignored submitted data. They have mischaracterized worst case exposure scenarios and not understood what exposure actually looks like when they're making decisions. And they focused on conditions of use that were not relevant or that were not really going to provide or have a specific high level of exposure. So, this has led to really flawed assessments by the agency, leading to overly conservative risk management decisions by the agency. What this new approach does is it requires the agency to focus on those conditions of use that are more likely than not to occur. So, it really helps to, again, focus the agency on looking at actual real-world scenarios for how a chemistry might be used.”

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “For states like Iowa, where agriculture, manufacturing, including chemical manufacturing, and innovation are central to our economy, we need a regulatory system that protects human health and the environment without relying on duplicative regulation or unnecessary delays. This discussion draft refocuses TSCA on real world risk, best available science, and coordination with other federal and international regulators. It encourages safer innovation, strengthens domestic supply chains, and ensures EPA is accountable for its decisions while preserving strong protections for workers, consumers, and families.”

Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08): “One of the processes that's used at EPA to manage and look at these chemicals and do cost benefit analysis is what's called a risk evaluation. In your experience, do EPA's risk evaluations and subsequent risk management rules provide health and safety benefits that are commensurate with the costs and burdens of the rules? And if not, what can we do to address that?” Dr. White: “EPA's risk evaluation process can be improved upon. It has a best available science and a way to vet the scientific evidence statute that it should be relying on. It has been missing the mark over the last several years. And so, there's really an opportunity to strengthen that, maintain that language.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America's Chemical Safety Law, Strenghten Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing.

Subcommittee Chairman Palmer’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:

“Good afternoon and welcome to Ranking Members Pallone, Tonko, my colleagues, and to our witnesses for this hearing of the Subcommittee on the Environment.

“Today we will be examining a legislative proposal to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act – or TSCA.

“First enacted into law in 1976 with broad bipartisan support, TSCA provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with broad authority to regulate chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment.

“Forty years later, Congress made several improvements to TSCA with passage of the bipartisan Lautenberg Amendments in 2016.

“As we heard at our hearing last January, chemicals are central to many aspects of modern life, and a strong, U.S. chemical industry is key to our economic prosperity and national security.

“The 2016 law authorized EPA to collect user fees to help provide resources and funding but in the decade since the Lautenberg Amendments were passed, it has become clear that this important law is still not working as Congress intended and that further changes are needed to ensure chemicals are reviewed in a predictable and efficient process without undermining safety.

“The process for reviewing new chemicals – which was a significant focus of the 2016 effort – is broken. As we heard in January and will again hear from witnesses today, EPA does not meet the 90-day review deadline for the vast majority of all new chemicals submitted for EPA review. This regulatory uncertainty makes it difficult for the chemical industry to bring safer alternatives or new technology to the market in the U.S. and impacts human health and the environment by slowing the transition to safer alternatives.

“To be clear: The draft would not scrap the safety protections enacted in the 2016 Amendments and is not reopening up TSCA as a whole.

“The bill would reauthorize the fee provision for another 10 years and require increased transparency and accountability in how fees are used by EPA.

“The draft also makes targeted changes to modernize section 5 and section 6 concerning the review and regulations of new and existing chemicals, including requiring increased coordination between EPA and other agencies and prioritizing chemicals that are essential to critical manufacturing supply chains.

“Our witnesses today are: Dimitri Karakitsos, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight who worked on the 2016 Amendments as a Senate staffer; Dr. Kimberly Wise White of the American Chemistry Council, John Carey of DSM-Firmenich, an international chemical manufacturer with significant operations in the U.S., and Professor Tracey Woodruff of the University of California, San Francisco.

“The legislation we are considering today is a discussion draft. It reflects input the Subcommittee received at our January hearing and in the months since.

“Majority staff also met with their counterparts on the minority staff half a dozen times to discuss ideas and language for this proposal, and several changes were made to the text based on input from minority staff.

“We look forward to getting additional feedback in the weeks after this hearing and hope to continue discussions with the minority on areas for bipartisan cooperation as we work on an updated draft, prepare legislation for introduction, and plan for a future markup to advance this important legislation.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a Subcommittee on Health hearing titled Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of Health Insurance Affordability. The hearing will feature testimony from top health insurance company CEOs and focus on the core drivers working against health care affordability.

WHAT: Subcommittee on Health hearing to have productive discussions with health insurance companies on the core drivers working against health care affordability—namely onerous government interference, administrative burdens, waste, fraud, and abuse, and lack of competition and patient choice.

DATE: Thursday, January 22, 2026

TIME: 9:45 AM ET

LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

Members of the media who wish to attend in-person should RSVP to their respective press gallery no later than 5:00 PM ET on Wednesday, January 21, 2026.

House Radio/TV Gallery:
** radiotv@mail.house.gov **
(202) 225-5214

House Periodical Gallery:
** Periodical.press@mail.house.gov **
(202) 225-2941

House Daily Press Gallery:
** dailypressgallery@mail.house.gov **
(202) 224-3945

Photographer Gallery:
** press_photo@saa.senate.gov **
(202) 224-6548

If you have any press-related questions, please contact Katie West at ** Katie.West@mail.house.gov **.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is holding two Subcommittee Hearings and one Full Committee Markup. Read more below.

FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP: The Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a markup of 11 bills.

• DATE: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
• TIME: 10:15 AM ET
• LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING: The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is holding a hearing to have productive discussions with health insurance companies on the core drivers working against health care affordability—namely onerous government interference, administrative burdens, waste, fraud, and abuse, and lack of competition and patient choice.

• DATE: Thursday, January 22, 2026
• TIME: 9:45 AM ET
• LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING: The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment is holding a hearing to discuss legislation to modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law.

• DATE: Thursday, January 22, 2026
• TIME: 2:00 PM ET
• LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building