Comer Continues Investigation into Biden-Era Alcohol Consumption Guidelines

WASHINGTON—House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today requested that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide documents and communications related to the Committee’s investigation into the Biden Administration’s handling of alcohol consumption guidelines. During the Biden Administration, the federal government released three separate studies and advisories on alcohol consumption. These overlapping evaluations went outside of the congressionally mandated review processes and issued conflicting guidance to the American public. In letters to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, Chairman Comer requests information related to the formulation of these guidelines, which the Biden Administration refused to provide to Congress. 

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is continuing its investigation into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) development of alcohol consumption recommendations for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Specifically, the Committee is investigating a study commissioned under the Biden Administration by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) to examine alcohol intake and health. The ICCPUD study is duplicative of a study conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) at the direction of Congress. The ICCPUD study’s formation outside of the transparency of the typical Dietary Guidelines process raises scientific integrity and conflict of interest concerns. It is imperative that the Dietary Guidelines are based on rigorous, sound, and objective scientific evidence, efficiently steward taxpayer dollars, and adhere to congressional intent,” wrote Chairman Comer.

During the previous Congress, the Committee wrote to HHS and USDA requesting documents and communications related to the formation and activities of the ICCPUD study. The Biden Administration obstructed the Committee’s request for information and evaded the Committee’s oversight by providing only documents already publicly available. After months of noncompliance, the Committee subpoenaed outstanding documents and communications from HHS and USDA. Despite duly authorized subpoenas, the Biden Administration ran out the clock and did not provide sufficient information to the Committee. In the concluding months of the Biden Administration, three separate reports related to alcohol consumption and health were published between December and January. 

“As HHS works alongside USDA to finalize the 2025 Dietary Guidelines, it is imperative that Congress and the American people have the utmost confidence in the scientific support determining the Dietary Guidelines. The National Nutrition Monitoring Act requires the Dietary Guidelines to be ‘based on the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge which is current at the time the report is prepared.’ Therefore, we write to request that HHS provide the Committee with documents and communications relevant to our investigation and a staff-level briefing on the status of the formation of alcohol recommendations for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines,” concluded Chairman Comer.

 Read the letter to Secretary Kennedy here and the letter to Secretary Rollins here.