Washington, D.C. — Following news that the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has proposed a drastic rollback of public participation in its decision-making process, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“By rescinding the long-standing practice of allowing public comment on key regulatory and policy actions, HHS is cutting millions of Americans out of policy decision-making that impacts their health and livelihoods,” said Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “HHS makes decisions that affect everything from public health services and medical research funding to market regulations and enforcement, and stripping the public of its ability to weigh in calls this administration’s commitment to transparency into serious question. Public participation is not a bureaucratic burden—it is a fundamental cornerstone of good governance and American democracy. This attack on public input must be reversed immediately so that the voices of patients, doctors, pharmacists, health workers, and the American public can be heard by this agency at a time when our healthcare system is in critical condition.”

In recent years, HHS, oftentimes in partnerships with agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, has extended requests for broad public comment on corporate consolidation, drug pricing, and shortages and other issues that affect our access to quality and affordable care. Over 10,000 Americans wrote in to the HHS and the FTC’s request for information on how the practices of group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and drug wholesalers may be contributing to generic drug shortages. Thousands submitted comments to the DOJ, FTC, and HHS’ joint inquiry into healthcare consolidation more broadly. The vast majority of these comments consist of healthcare workers and patients that have little other way to make their voices heard to the government on these issues.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.