WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2020) The inspector general in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must be allowed to continue overseeing the nation's response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic without interference from President Donald Trump, senior lawmakers on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday.
"Now more than ever, [Inspectors General] must be permitted to conduct independent oversight - especially HHS OIG [Office of Inspector General], which oversees the Federal agency principally responsible for protecting our nation's public health during the coronavirus pandemic. HHS OIG's ongoing work, including its oversight of the Administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, must continue unimpeded by political interference or threats of reprisal," the letter, signed by Committee Chair Frank Pallone and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette, said.
The letter represented a response to Trump's rejection of an HHS report last week detailing severe shortages of protective equipment for medical workers - a document based on interviews with administrators of more than 300 US hospitals by an OIG team led by Principle Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm.
The lawmakers said in an accompanying press release that Trump quickly moved to discredit the report, saying it was wrong and suggesting its findings were influenced by political considerations.
The next day, Trump continued his attacks, tweeting - without any basis - that the report was "fake and dishonestly suggesting that the HHS Principal Deputy Inspector-General had political motivations," the lawmakers added.
The letter demanded that Azar instruct everyone who works at HHS to cooperate fully and openly with OIG evaluations, audits and investigations, regardless of what Trump or anyone else in his administration says.
