Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander says Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius may be involved in an
Iran-Contra-style health care scandal and he wants Congress to
investigate it.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Sebelius is asking private companies involved in health care to contribute funds to Enroll America, a nonprofit that is working to help implement the
Affordable Care Act by enrolling the uninsured and educating Americans
on the new law. Congress has turned down requests from the Obama
administration for additional funds to help implement the ACA.
Alexander, the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, called
for an investigation into Sebelius’ actions Saturday, saying it “may be
illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by
Congress.”
“Such private fundraising circumvents the constitutional requirement
that only Congress may appropriate funds. If the secretary or others in
her department are closely coordinating the activities of Enroll
America, which is headed by a former White House aide, then those
actions may be in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act,” he said.
He compared such behavior to the Iran-Contra scandal, “when Reagan
administration official Oliver North raised funds and directed their
spending through private entities in support of Nicaraguan rebels even
though Congress had refused to appropriate such funds.”
A report from the Joint Select Committee charged with investigating
the Iran-Contra incident determined that “Congress’s exclusive control
over the expenditure of funds cannot legally be evaded through the use
of gifts or donations to the executive branch,” Alexander noted.
