Republicans challenge memo restricting health officials' talks with Congress

Jessica Glenza in New York
Updated

GOP lawmakers condemn ‘potentially illegal’ requirement that health department workers must check with bosses before communicating with Hill

Tom Price, the health secretary, speaks at the White House. Republicans have challenged a memo his chief of staff sent to department officials.
Tom Price, the health secretary, speaks at the White House. Republicans have challenged a memo his chief of staff sent to department officials. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

A federal health department memo telling employees they must consult with management before “any communications with members of Congress” was called “potentially illegal and unconstitutional” by two Republican congressmen, who said it could deter whistleblowers from coming forward.

Chuck Grassley and Jason Chaffetz “obtained” a copy from the health and human services department (HHS) and sent it on to the health and human services (HHS) secretary, Tom Price.

“Federal employees will most certainly read this instruction as a prohibition against direct communications with Congress without permission,” Grassley and Chaffetz wrote to Price, requesting more information about the policy. “As such, it is potentially illegal and unconstitutional, and will likely chill protected disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Grassley is chairman of the Senate judiciary committee and Chaffetz of the House committee on oversight and government reform.

The 3 May memo was sent from Price’s chief of staff, Lance Leggitt, to the heads of staff and operating divisions at HHS.

Because health department employees would be required “to expose their communications with Congress to agency management, necessarily subjecting them to a significantly increased risk of reprisal”, the memo could violate several laws that protect whistleblowers, the Republican congressmen said. “The effect will be to substantially chill those communications.”

The memo said any requests from Congress for “calls, meetings, briefings, technical assistance, policy development, hearings, oversight, detailees, etc”, should be coordinated with the assistant secretary for legislation. The Trump administration recently nominated a Tennessee businessman to fill that role.

Price’s chief of staff, in the memo, said the department was only attempting to reiterate “the department’s longstanding policy regarding congressional relations”.

An HHS spokesperson said: “This type of memorandum is nothing new. It reflects consistent agency policy which has been in place for decades as has been confirmed by the HHS Office of the General Counsel.”

She added: “There is no prohibition in the memorandum on direct communications ... If an HHS employee has concerns about waste, fraud or abuse at the agency, we want them to contact the appropriate officials so it can be stopped.”

The letter was published by Kaiser Health News the same day a reporter was arrested for attempting to shout questions at Price. Daniel Ralph Heyman, a 54-year-old journalist for Public News Service, was arrested after asking Price whether being the victim of domestic violence would exclude someone from health insurance under the new Republican health bill.

“I asked him the question repeatedly and he did not answer,” said Heyman at a news conference shown on the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia’s Facebook page. “I think they decided I was just too persistent in asking this question and trying to do my job, so they arrested me.”