WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell regarding possible violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits agencies from spending monies not appropriated by Congress, among other limitations. Federal employees who violate the act may be subject to administrative and criminal penalties. The letter was sent by full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA).
“Since fiscal year 2010, HHS has reported more than $1.5 billion in ADA violations. … However in none of these instances did HHS hold any individuals accountable for the identified violation," wrote Upton, Pitts, and Murphy.
Committee leaders continued to Secretary Burwell, “On Feb. 24, 2016, you appeared before the Subcommittee on Health for a hearing on the Department’s fiscal year 2016 budget request. After that hearing, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) submitted questions to you for the record asking for additional information about the potential ADA violations. In your July 1 response, you indicated that the Department is currently reviewing whether the obligations in question violated provisions in the appropriations act or section 749 of division D of Public Law 111-8. Such a violation would, in turn, create an ADA violation. The Committee is concerned that, nearly a year after the audit publically identified the potential ADA violations, the Department has not completed its review and determined if any ADA violations did, in fact, occur."
Chairmen Upton, Pitts, and Murphy requested a briefing to understand how HHS identifies and reports potential ADA violations, as well as a status update on the three potential violations identified in their letter.
