Comer, McClain Reiterate Document Request to Biden-Harris Administration Related to Formulation of Alcohol Consumption Guidelines

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) are today reiterating requests to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for information related to the development of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In letters to HHS Secretary Becerra and USDA Secretary Vilsack, the lawmakers are again requesting HHS and USDA produce complete documents to the Committee related to the formulation of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) study of alcohol intake and health.

“As we previously wrote on April 4, 2024, we are seeking information about the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) duplicative study of alcohol intake and health, which is intended to inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines. The Committee expects HHS [and USDA] to produce requested documents and information in full as soon as possible,” the lawmakers wrote.

Chairman Comer and Subcommittee Chairwoman McClain previously requested documents,  communications, and a staff-level briefing from HHS, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in April 2024 related to the formulation of the Dietary Guidelines. The lawmakers raised concern that HHS appears to have taken improper authority over the development of alcohol consumption guidelines. HHS has since failed to meaningfully cooperate with the Committee’s oversight.

“The ICCPUD study is concerning, as it appears to be attempting to remove alcohol review from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee process and ‘delegate’ it to ICCPUD, despite the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s twice-affirmed congressional mandate to study the relationship between alcohol use and health for the Dietary Guidelines and ICCPUD’s directive to study underage drinking. […] Since the Committee’s original request, the ICCPUD study is continuing to move forward, and ICCPUD has collected public feedback on the proposed study methodology,” the lawmakers continued.

Read the letters here: