House chair says 'we are going to get him here' after HHS head refuses to testify on separated kids
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Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar is refusing a request to testify at a hearing on the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, but it may not stay a request for long. “His denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks oHouse chair says 'we are going to get him here' after HHS head refuses to testify on separated kids
Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar is refusing a request to testify at a hearing on the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, but it may not stay a request for long. “His denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks on the family separation policy is unacceptable,” said Energy and Commerce chair Frank Pallone, “and we are going to get him here at some point one way or another.” Azar’s refusal comes just days after a government watchdog’s investigation said that we may never know exactly how many kids were stolen from families at the southern border, or where they even definitively ended up after being released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is an office within Azar’s department. Azar’s refusal also comes as kids separated under the policy remain in ORR custody—in violation of a federal judge’s court order—yet both Azar and Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen have remained scot-free and children have continued to languish without their parents. Azar, like Nielsen, has also blatantly lied about family separation. In June, Azar told a Senate committee that “there is no reason why any parent would not know where their child is located … I could at the stroke of keystrokes … within seconds could find any child within our care for any parent.” Another government watchdog report found otherwise: “The inspector general found no evidence of such a database.” Azar’s refusal in light of all of this is just another example of the arrogance of Trump administration officials who, thanks to complicit House Republicans, have had to answer for absolutely nothing for the past two years. That era is over, and if Azar won’t abide by a request, newly empowered House Democrats should make sure he has no choice but to come in. “It has been eight months since this cruel policy came to light, and Secretary Azar has yet to appear before Congress at a hearing specifically on this policy,” Pallone said in a statement. “The stonewalling must end, and Secretary Azar must agree to appear before the Committee to answer questions and take accountability for his agency’s actions.” Wednesday, Jan. 23, marks 181 days past the federal judge’s reunification deadline, but children stolen from families at the border under the “zero tolerance” policy are still in U.S. custody. Children stolen from families before the policy are … no one knows, exactly. Family separation remains a crisis. Read more