$900 million taxpayer dollars used to amplify the Biden-Harris administration’s flawed messaging on COVID-19 pandemic

Washington, D.C. — In a new report, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans unveiled the failings of a $900 million COVID-19 public relations campaign, issued and overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is the culmination of the Committee’s investigation, which was launched in April 2023.

“While the Biden-Harris administration’s public health guidance led to prolonged closures of schools and businesses, the NIH was spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money trying to manipulate Americans with advertisements—sometimes containing erroneous or unproven information. By overpromising what the COVID-19 vaccines could do—in direct contradiction of the FDA’s authorizations—and over emphasizing the virus’s risk to children and young adults, the Biden-Harris administration caused Americans to lose trust in the public health system,” said Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). “Our investigation also uncovered the extent to which public funding went to Big Tech companies to track and monitor Americans, underscoring the need for stronger online data privacy protections.”

“I am proud to see this report uncover the truth behind the Biden-Harris administration’s use of $900 million of taxpayer funds to further their own political agenda that sowed distrust in our public health institutions, kept kids out of the classroom, and crushed local economies,” said Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY). “American trust in the CDC is at an all time low because the Biden-Harris administration’s flawed pandemic messaging, and this report is the first step in holding CDC and other agencies to account for the harms caused throughout the pandemic and ensure these institutions are operating openly and transparently with the American public during future pandemics.”

 “The entire premise of the Biden-Harris ‘Stop the Spread’ campaign was that if you got vaccinated for COVID-19, you could resume daily activities because they said vaccinated people would not spread the disease,” said Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA). “Despite lacking scientific basis, the administration bought into this CDC claim and misled the American public. As a result, vaccination coverage with other vaccines appears to have declined, I believe because of a growing distrust of information coming from our public health institutions.” 

BACKGROUND: 

The overall goal of this report is to understand why, with the extent of these resources, the HHS public relations campaign (Campaign) and the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the pandemic resulted in a collapse of trust in public health messaging.  

Much of the scientific content directly featured in or alluded to in Campaign ads and other promotional material was drawn from CDC recommendations, guidance, and research, critical parts of which proved to be deeply flawed. The CDC’s errors and failures to update recommendations and guidance were reflected in the “We Can Do This” ads and promotional materials: 

• CDC’s guidance, which the Campaign relied on, went beyond the terms of FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to state, without evidence, that COVID vaccines were highly effective against transmission.
• This ultimately had a negative impact on vaccine confidence and the CDC’s credibility when proven untrue.  
• The CDC had inconsistent and flawed messaging about the effectiveness of masks. 
• The CDC consistently overstated the risk of COVID-19 to children.
• The CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages six months and older, which has made the United States a global outlier in COVID-19 policy. 

RECOMMENDATIONS: 

Americans cannot afford another botched government response to a future pandemic. To prevent a recurrence of HHS’s failures in public relations management for the COVID-19 pandemic response and to strengthen the nation’s public health preparedness system, the Committee makes the following recommendations: 

• Congress should consider formally authorizing the CDC and clearly define the agency’s core mission. 
• HHS and its agencies should abide by the FDA’s product labeling guidelines. HHS and its agencies should be barred from promoting information regarding an FDA-regulated product that does not reflect the FDA-approved label.
• Congress should consider clarifying responsibility for evaluating the safety of vaccines and streamline existing reporting systems for capturing vaccine injuries and adverse reactions.
• HHS and its agencies should embrace a culture of transparency and accountability.
• The CDC and federal public health officials should not attempt to silence dissenting scientific opinions.
• HHS and its agencies should overhaul their website archival process to mimic that of prior White House administrations.

CLICK HERE to read the full report and complete list of recommendations.