House Democrats on Thursday chided the Trump administration for not releasing a drug control strategy in the midst of the opioid crisis.
Lawmakers said during a hearing about the epidemic that a national drug control strategy was due in February but the White House didn’t submit one.
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“Trump has shown no leadership,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “Congress must step into the void and do a bipartisan commitment to this fight in a better manner.”
The hearing was focused on reauthorizing the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, an office in the White House that does not have a director yet. White House aide Jim Carroll was nominated in February but has not been confirmed.
Trump issued a national emergency declaration on the opioid epidemic in October, but Democrats have criticized the administration for a lack of action since then.
“We’re dragging our feet on this and this is inexcusable,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.
Congress is considering a slew of bills to combat the crisis. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has worked on more than 50 bills, with the last batch being taken up Thursday. The committee hopes the full House will vote on the bills before the Memorial Day recess.
Cummings touted a bill modeled after the Ryan White CARE Act that gave billions to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The bill would give $100 billion annually to communities and states to combat the crisis, which federal data show killed more than 42,000 people in 2016.
