Senate

This week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will vote to pursue civil enforcement and criminal contempt of Congress charges against Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre.  If the vote succeeds, and it is likely it will, Dr. de la Torre will be only the second corporate executive subject to a subpoena enforcement action in the history of the Senate.

The bipartisan enforcement action, announced by Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ranking Member Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), followed a hearing last week for which Dr. de la Torre was subpoenaed to testify but failed to appear.

The use of an empty chair at a hearing to symbolize noncompliance with congressional requests has increased in recent years, but it is nonetheless a rare event on Capitol Hill.  Dr. de la Torre, remarkably, has been represented by an empty chair twice in less than six months.  In March 2024, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, launched an inquiry into financial mismanagement at Steward Health Care.  Senator Markey twice requested that Dr. de la Torre testify at a Subcommittee hearing on April 3, 2024.  Dr. de la Torre declined to appear, earning his first empty chair of the year.Continue Reading An Empty Chair and a Not-so-Empty Threat:  Senate HELP Committee to Vote on Rare Civil and Criminal Subpoena Enforcement Actions Against Steward Health Care CEO

The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony last week from Acting Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, Marine General Joe Dunford (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), and Air Force General John Hyten (Commander of U.S. Strategic Command and the presumptive next Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs).

The witnesses presented unified support for the creation of the Space Force. Secretary Wilson, notably, voiced support for the proposal, which would put the new Space Force under the Air Force.  That structure mimics the design of the Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy; Wilson acknowledged that she had previously been critical of proposals that would establish a new independent department for space.  From the perspective of continuity, the key testimony came from General Hyten; both Wilson and Dunford are lame ducks, and Shanahan’s nomination for Secretary remains uncertain.  Many of the Senators voiced concerns about the fundamental need for a Space Force and the significant bureaucratic expansion contemplated by the proposal.

It was clear from the hearing that the Administration and the Department still have much to do to market this Space Force proposal to the Congress.  Given the reactions so far, it is extremely unlikely to be included as written in the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. While Congress continues to debate the proposal, now is the window to engage with the congressional defense committees with comments on the proposal and suggestions for how to modify it.
Continue Reading Senators Question the Administration’s Space Force Proposal