Chuck Grassley: “I intend to object to the nomination of Dr. Mary Wakefield to the position of HHS Deputy Secretary. The reason for my…”

“I intend to object to the nomination of Dr. Mary Wakefield to the position of HHS Deputy Secretary. The reason for my objection is the following: Last summer, separate inquiries from Chairman Johnson and myself and from Senators Ernst and Blunt were sent to HHS regarding fetal tissue harvesting practices of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an HHS grant recipient. Response to the letters did not fully answer the questions raised and, furthermore, raised additional concerns. Follow-up inquiries to HHS also failed to address some of the questions. Today I sent a followup letter to Secretary Burwell in order to determine whether any audits of the fetal tissue programs have ever been undertaken. ____________________”