Opinion -- Hawley Opens Investigation Into OpenAI

by Senator Josh Hawley's Office

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), as Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, launched an investigation into OpenAI for their AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026. The investigation will also probe the existential risk of new AI products.

In a letter to CEO Sam Altman, Senator Hawley wrote, "As Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I am investigating your AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026 in light of new, disturbing evidence regarding the incident. My investigation will probe this AI hacking incident, along with growing allegations of the existential risk of new AI products."

He continued, "As you may know, in the public domain, more AI experts are warning about the existential risks of AI.  Just this week, three Anthropic researchers expressed publicly that there is a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all human beings within the next decade. Your own chief scientist wrote just days ago that 'no lab has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.' And there are immediate questions about the consequences of these hacks from rogue AI agents. What happens to critical infrastructure, banks, and utilities if AI agents hack into their systems? How can personal data of millions of Americans be properly safeguarded? And who is held labile when AI goes rogue?"

Senator Hawley concluded, "The American people deserve to know the details of what went on in the Hugging Face incident and other incidents of AI models going rogue. This investigation will seek those answers. To facilitate that, please produce all documents and information specified in the attached annex no later than October 1, 2026.  If you have questions about the scope of these requests, please contact my office to discuss."

Read Senator Hawley's letter to Open AI below. 

September 9, 2026

Sam Altman

Chief Executive Officer

OpenAI

San Francisco, CA 

Dear Mr. Altman:

As Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I am investigating your AI agents’ hack of Hugging Face in July 2026 in light of new, disturbing evidence regarding the incident. My investigation will probe this AI hacking incident, along with growing allegations of the existential risk of new AI products.

OpenAI and its partner auditors’ August 26, 2026 reports indicate that, during your cybersecurity evaluations of your GPT-5.6 Sol model and a more capable undisclosed model (termed “highly-persistent internal model”), a self-organized swarm of more than 1,200 AI agents broke out of their testing environment.  Those agents then set up an unauthorized messaging channel and exchanged over 70,000 messages and files with each other.  Some 700 of these agents went on to launch a successful coordinated attack on Hugging Face’s machine learning development platform, gaining access to its production systems and private source code.  These AI agents were looking for the answer key to their evaluations and actively tampered with evidence of their activity to cover their tracks.  In short, they went rogue.

Such evidence of autonomous collusion and subversion of human oversight is alarming enough, but greater still is the evidence that OpenAI knew that the AI agents were exhibiting rogue behavior and let the evaluations continue anyway. By May 2026, OpenAI knew that its agents had been using unsanctioned message boards.  On June 26, the agents discovered an exploit that gave them administrator access to your software repository manager and were using it to leave messages for each other. And on July 4-7, despite knowing that there was a high volume of agents interacting with and gaining administrator access to a compromised testing environment, OpenAI leadership rebuilt the compromised server and approved restarting evaluations without understanding what the agents were doing.

This is reckless.  And this is merely what we know from what limited information you disclosed to and allowed your partner auditors to investigate.  The auditors were given complete transcripts of AI agent activity for only two days, when the events leading up to the Hugging Face breach took place over weeks. They had limited visibility into the circumstances leading to the attack and its aftermath. Specifically, the auditors were not given access to study what happened during July 13-19, 2026, during which your report indicates that agents launched a second wave of attacks on OpenAI’s internal systems. The auditors did not have any ability to query the “highly-persistent internal model,” which was involved in 95% of the agents’ attack activity. And OpenAI redacted many important details regarding this primary model involved in the attack, among other things.

As you may know, in the public domain, more AI experts are warning about the existential risks of AI. Just this week, three Anthropic researchers expressed publicly that there is a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all human beings within the next decade. Your own chief scientist wrote just days ago that “no lab has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” And there are immediate questions about the consequences of these hacks from rogue AI agents. What happens to critical infrastructure, banks, and utilities if AI agents hack into their systems? How can personal data of millions of Americans be properly safeguarded? And who is held labile when AI goes rogue?

The American people deserve to know the details of what went on in the Hugging Face incident and other incidents of AI models going rogue. This investigation will seek those answers. To facilitate that, please produce all documents and information specified in the attached annex no later than October 1, 2026. If you have questions about the scope of these requests, please contact my office to discuss.

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley

Chairman

Subcommittee on Disaster Management,

Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs

Opinion -- Hawley Demands Answers for Bonus Pay, Poor Service at USPS

by Senator Josh Hawley's Office

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) released the following statement on Postmaster David Steiner’s anticipated Friday visit to St. Louis. The photo-op by the Postmaster comes after months of failure to provide acceptable answers regarding his bonus payments and poor mail service in the state.

“Missourians have suffered poor mail service for years and it’s grossly unacceptable. They deserve answers,” said Senator Hawley. “Instead of posing for a photo op, the Postmaster General can return his bonus to taxpayers, pledge his full cooperation with congressional investigations, and support my bill to restrict bonuses for postal executives until Missourians receive their mail on time.”

The statement comes after Senator Hawley launched a comprehensive investigation into major U.S Postal Service (USPS) failures in Missouri in addition to lavish bonus compensation for USPS executives. This investigation followed Senator Hawley’s questioning of Postmaster General Steiner at a Senate hearing earlier this year during which Senator Hawley revealed that postal executives had received millions in bonuses over the past decade as USPS service standards and financials lagged.

In July, in a strong bipartisan vote, the Senate Homeland Security Committee passed Senator Hawley’s legislation to restrict bonus payouts for the Postmaster General. The legislation now heads to the Senate floor.

Senator Hawley’s office continues to investigate USPS and numerous questions remain unanswered. Senator Hawley's office has not received a single requested document from USPS during the investigation. 

Below are major questions for the Postmaster General that need timely public answers:

--Does the Postmaster General support Senator Hawley’s legislation to restrict bonuses for USPS executives until performance improves?

--Why has the Postmaster General retained New York consultants Alvarez & Marsal? What is the scope of work?

--Have these consultants recommended any closures of rural post offices in Missouri?

--Why has the Postmaster General suspended employer pension contributions for postal workers while he accepted a bonus and hired outside consultants? Is there a plan to make postal workers whole?

--Following the discovery of pile of undelivered mail in St. Louis in April 2026, what reforms has the Postmaster General made to ensure this never happens again?

Opinion -- Hawley, Durbin Launch Child Sex Abuse Investigation Into Roblox

by Senator Josh Hawley's Office

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a letter to Roblox Founder, President, CEO, and Chair of the Board of Directors David Baszucki, informing him that the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism opened an investigation into Roblox. In the letter, Senator Hawley and Senator Durbin called attention to explicit content present on the platform, as well as its connection to real world child abuse. This investigation is only the latest in the series of actions Senator Hawley and Senator Durbin have taken to protect children online, including their STOP CSAM Act passing out of committee unanimously.

They began, "We write to inform you that the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism has opened an investigation into child safety on the Roblox gaming platform."

They continued, "You trumpet Roblox as a safe digital playground for children as young as five. But the public record raises serious questions about this promise of safety. Over the past decade, police have arrested numerous individuals for committing serious acts of violence and harm against children they met via Roblox, including grooming, sexual abuse, kidnapping, rape, and even murder. Roblox is being used to trade child sexual abuse material, participate in sexually explicit (and often violent) virtual 'experiences' with children, bribe and extort children into producing explicit content, and lure children into in-person meetings. It is heartbreaking. In 2025, Roblox reported 65,381 instances of suspected child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children—more than double what it reported in 2024."

"Roblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children, and the alleged criminal activity on Roblox warrants congressional scrutiny. Accordingly, be advised that Roblox is hereby directed to preserve all records, in any format and wherever located, in connection with child safety, child sexual or physical abuse, child bullying, or child financial exploitation ... Let us be clear: children on your platform are hurting. Congress will not look the other way. We await your prompt and complete response," they concluded.

Read the full letter below.

August 12, 2026

David Baszucki

Founder, President, CEO, and Chair of the Board of Directors

Roblox Corp.

Mr. Baszucki:

We write to inform you that the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism has opened an investigation into child safety on the Roblox gaming platform.

You trumpet Roblox as a safe digital playground for children as young as five. But the public record raises serious questions about this promise of safety. Over the past decade, police have arrested numerous individuals for committing serious acts of violence and harm against children they met via Roblox, including grooming, sexual abuse, kidnapping, rape, and even murder. Roblox is being used to trade child sexual abuse material, participate in sexually explicit (and often violent) virtual “experiences” with children, bribe and extort children into producing explicit content, and lure children into in-person meetings. It is heartbreaking. In 2025, Roblox reported 65,381 instances of suspected child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children—more than double what it reported in 2024.

Roblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children, and the alleged criminal activity on Roblox warrants congressional scrutiny. Accordingly, be advised that Roblox is hereby directed to preserve all records, in any format and wherever located, in connection with child safety, child sexual or physical abuse, child bullying, or child financial exploitation. We also attach an annex containing document requests and interrogatories. Please produce all documents and information specified in the annex no later than August 31, 2026.

Let us be clear: children on your platform are hurting. Congress will not look the other way. We await your prompt and complete response.

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley 

Chairman

Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism 

Richard J. Durbin

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism

Opinion -- Hawley Questions USPS Retention of New York Consulting Firm

by Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) expanded his investigation into the United States Postal Service (USPS) after Postmaster General David Steiner refused to provide answers for the terrible postal service in Missouri. Senator Hawley questioned USPS’ apparent retention of a New York consulting firm while Missourians’ mail delivery lags, despite Congress passing the Postal Service Reform Act in 2022 to equip the agency to rectify service issues.

Senator Hawley wrote, “To date, my office has received no documents in compliance with my June 30 letter. Is it your intention simply to ignore statutory oversight? I expect full compliance with my oversight requests immediately. This letter is to inform you that my office is formally expanding its investigation to include the retention of outside consultants by the United States Postal Service (USPS) so Congress can evaluate whether postal service leadership is appropriately prioritizing service improvements."

He questioned the Postal Service’s use of outside consultants, stating, “In a March 4, 2026 interview, you revealed that USPS had consulted with Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) for a 'brief engagement to help with planning for all scenarios.' I was surprised to learn that you have hired a New York-based management consulting company, which is known for corporate restructuring. You also emphasized that service and staffing cuts were a consideration in USPS’ efforts to mitigate its financial losses, arguing that 'we must be prepared to do what we have to do because we cannot rely on outside forces.'"

Senator Hawley also inquired about why postal service for Missourians has not been fixed since Congress passed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, which was requested by postal service leadership at the time to improve operations.

He concluded, “It is surprising to me that as you complain about this monetary crisis, you and other USPS executives continue to rake in annual bonus packages and have found plenty of cash to hire these outside consultants like A&M—all while service declines and far too many Americans are not receiving their mail. If the Postal Service plans to address its losses through hiring A&M, then Congress must be apprised of the nature of the engagement and A&M’s recommendations to ensure that USPS service standards—such as universal service and rural delivery—do not continue to decline in any agency restructuring plan. ”

Read Senator Hawley’s full letter below.

Senator Hawley's investigation looks into the ongoing mail service failures plaguing Missouri, alongside potential criminal activity in abandoned mail and the alarming distribution of lavish bonuses to U.S. Postal Service (USPS) executives.

July 16, 2026

Postmaster General Steiner

United States Postal Service

Washington, D.C.

Dear Postmaster General Steiner,

To date, my office has received no documents in compliance with my June 30 letter. Is it your intention simply to ignore statutory oversight? I expect full compliance with my oversight requests immediately. This letter is to inform you that my office is formally expanding its investigation to include the retention of outside consultants by the United States Postal Service (USPS) so Congress can evaluate whether postal service leadership is appropriately prioritizing service improvements.

In a March 4, 2026 interview, you revealed that USPS had consulted with Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) for a “brief engagement to help with planning for all scenarios.” I was surprised to learn that you have hired a New York-based management consulting company, which is known for corporate restructuring. You also emphasized that service and staffing cuts were a consideration in USPS’ efforts to mitigate its financial losses, arguing that “we must be prepared to do what we have to do because we cannot rely on outside forces.”

As you know, USPS’s financial situation has become increasingly dire in recent years. The Postal Service has lost an estimated $25 billion over the last three fiscal years—an embarrassing achievement on top of internal projections that USPS would run a $17 billion deficit over that period. And this fiscal year alone, under your leadership, USPS projects a loss of at least $8.1 billion. This all comes after Congress passed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, which was requested by postal service leadership to help stem these losses and guarantee universal service. Despite that legislation, nothing appears to have changed.

It is surprising to me that as you complain about this monetary crisis, you and other USPS executives continue to rake in annual bonus packages and have found plenty of cash to hire these outside consultants like A&M—all while service declines and far too many Americans are not receiving their mail. If the Postal Service plans to address its losses through hiring A&M, then Congress must be apprised of the nature of the engagement and A&M’s recommendations to ensure that USPS service standards—such as universal service and rural delivery—do not continue to decline in any agency restructuring plan.

Therefore, I reiterate my request for you to provide the documents, communications, and written responses enumerated in my June 30 letter. I also request a response to the additional questions on the engagement of outside consultants by Friday, July 24, 2026.

1. In addition to my questions and documents in my June 30 letter on the same subject, please also describe the process by which Alvarez & Marsal was retained by USPS, and who at USPS hired these consultants.

2. Please describe, in the last 10 years, every contract or instance in which USPS has hired management consultants for the same purpose and how much they were paid over the term of the contract.

3. How much has USPS budgeted for the retention of Alvarez and Marsal, how much have these consultants been paid already, and how much will they be paid over the terms of their contract?

4. What precisely was Alvarez & Marsal instructed to produce as a deliverable per the terms of their engagement?

5. Was Alvarez & Marsal instructed to find ways to cut costs at USPS? If so, were they instructed to investigate the closure of rural post offices or the restriction of rural delivery?

6. Was Alvarez & Marsal instructed to investigate executive compensation? Have they identified executive compensation as a cost that can be cut?

7. Are you planning to release any deliverables by Alvarez & Marsal to Congress and the public?

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley

United States Senator

Opinion -- Hawley Child Trafficking Bill Signed Into Law

President Trump has signed Senator Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) measure to combat child exploitation into law as part of the broader reconciliation bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Now, DHS will have access to $108.5 million to hire 200 new child exploitation investigators and analysts. Prior to this measure being enacted, DHS only had 7 full-time specialists to identify these victims.

"My legislation with Tim Tebow to rescue thousands of kids from online child exploitation was just signed into law by President Trump. I want to thank the President for leading on this vital issue. This is the largest surge against child trafficking ever by the federal government,” said Senator Hawley. “Time is of the essence. Let’s rescue these children.”

“Right now, 89,000 unidentified image series of children being sexually abused have been seen by law enforcement — but these children have yet to be identified and are still waiting to be found due to resource and manpower shortages,” said Tebow, Founder and Chairman of the Tim Tebow Foundation (TTF). “Every day we don’t act is another day they’re in harm’s way. Today, we acted. I am grateful to our congressional leaders for getting this lifesaving legislation over the finish line, and to the law enforcement who never stop fighting for these kids. My prayer is that hope is renewed for many more boys and girls, and that their stories will be different because of this legislation. When we come together, real change can happen — and this is just the beginning.”

DHS Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) plays a critical role in combating child exploitation online, but currently lacks the resources to fully execute its mission. In a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing chaired by Senator Hawley in March, Tim Tebow—the Heisman Trophy winner who now leads the Tim Tebow Foundation and its work to end child exploitation—described how HSI’s lack of staff for these cases hampers its ability to identify and find the exploited children who appear in child abuse images. Tebow told the subcommittee that 338,000 unique IP addresses have downloaded, shared, or distributed child rape images in the United States in just a matter of months, and as many as 89,000 unidentified child victims appear in these horrific materials. However, DHS currently employs only 7 full-time specialists to identify these victims.

Senator Hawley’s provision, modeled on the Renewed Hope Act, will provide HSI with a generational investment to both identify and rescue these unidentified children. The provision allows HSI to:

—Hire 40 new forensic analysts at the Victim Identification Laboratory at the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of HSI.

—Hire 30 new child exploitation investigators at the Victim Identification Laboratory of the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of HSI.

—Hire 130 additional forensic analysts and child exploitation investigators at the offices of the Special Agents in Charge.

—Establish a dedicated training program in victim identification for federal, state, and local law enforcement to better coordinate investigations.

Hawley on AI: “Artificial Intelligence Will Not Choose Moral Liberty.”

By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) delivered the keynote address at the American Compass New World Gala, presenting on the foundation of our country and its moral covenant Thursday. He contrasted our founding with the dangers of artificial intelligence that threaten to unravel the very fabric of this nation.

Senator Hawley said, "For we are confronting now new questions of technology and science that will test our commitment to the great moral covenant that binds us together as a nation. I tell you tonight that the decisions we must soon make about the most powerful technology of our lifetimes—the technology of artificial intelligence—are among the most difficult we have yet faced as a people. These decisions will go far beyond questions of economics or policy. They are questions of labor and the family, of freedom and the value of human life. They are fundamental questions of identity—our identity; they are questions about the nature of this republic given to us by God."

He continued, "Let me be blunt. Left to itself, artificial intelligence will not choose moral liberty. It will choose the appetite. It will gather power into the fewest hands the world has ever seen and call the result progress. That is the rule of the strong over the weak. That is the dissolution of the covenant. And it is the oldest temptation in the human story, dressed now in silicon. So we must choose. And here is the heart of what I have come to say tonight: in deciding how to govern this technology, we are not merely writing policy. We are renewing—or surrendering—the moral basis of our life together. The covenant does not keep itself. Every generation must swear it again. Ours will swear it, or break it, over artificial intelligence."

"And let me say a word now to my own party, because the Republican Party has a choice of its own to make—perhaps the defining choice of its next half century. We can be the party of the boardroom: the party of the donor and the share price, the party that measures a man by his market value and a policy by what it does to a stock. Or we can be the party of the covenant: the party of the good, the just, and the right; the party of the worker and the family and the small town; the party that remembers our commitment to justice for all, to the sanctity of the individual, to the dignity of labor, to the priority of the poor," he said.

Senator Hawley concluded, "For we know, in the end, that license is not liberty at all. Might does not make right. And the strong have no claim to rule the weak. For we are all endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. And we choose to honor those rights, and the God who gave them, again in our time. That is why we will bend the arc of this technology toward the welfare of the nation, toward the welfare of our families, and our children, and of labor. We will not surrender our principles toward the technology. The technology will answer to our principles. This will happen because the American people, together, with intention, in the time still given us, choose to be a country that is more than the sum of its outputs—choose, as our forebears did on the Arbella, to live in liberty under God."

 

Opinion -- Hawley, Warren Bill Would Prohibit PBM’s from Owning Pharmacies

By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren reintroduced the Patients Before Monopolies Act to prohibit Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) from owning pharmacies and driving up the costs of prescription drugs. Insurance companies and PBMs have taken advantage of the system, putting profits before patients. The reintroduction comes after Senator Hawley and Senator Warren recently introduced the Break Up Big Medicine Act to address rampant consolidation in the healthcare industry that drives up prices, squashes competition, and hurts working people.

“Americans are paying more and more for healthcare while seeing less in return. PBMs are at the center of a broken system that rewards middlemen while driving up costs for patients and pushing out independent pharmacies,” said Senator Hawley. “Working Americans deserve better. This legislation is a major step toward restoring transparency and making healthcare more affordable for every American.”

“Our PBM Act is gaining momentum because people are realizing that you can’t lower health care costs without tackling corporate greed in the health care system,” said Senator Warren. “It’s time we finally rein in the health care middlemen that are jacking up drug costs and driving small pharmacies out of business.”

The Patients Before Monopolies Act would: 

—Prohibit a parent company of a PBM or an insurer from owning a pharmacy business;

—Require that a parent company in violation of the PBM Act divest its pharmacy business within one year of the bill’s enactment;

—Create automatic penalties if a company fails to divest in a timely manner, including disgorgement of profits and forced sales of assets in the event of noncompliance;

—Enable the FTC, Department of Health and Human Services, Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and state attorneys general to bring lawsuits requiring violators of the PBM Act to divest their pharmacy business and disgorge any revenue received during the period of such violation;

—Enable private parties, including independent pharmacists, to bring lawsuits against violators of the bill, and secure treble damages in successful lawsuits;

—Direct the FTC to distribute any revenue raised by penalties to harmed communities, including consumers overcharged at vertically integrated pharmacies; 

—Allow the FTC and DOJ to review and block future actions that would recreate the anticompetitive conditions addressed by the bill or harm the public interest.

Additionally, Senator Hawley recently announced his "No Taxes on Healthcare" proposal to provide relief for American families from out-of-control medical costs that have skyrocketed in recent years. He has also fought for rural hospital funding, securing an additional $1B in funding for Missouri’s rural hospitals.

 

Opinion -- Federal Gas Tax Freeze Proposed

By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced legislation to suspend the gas tax. The legislation comes after President Trump announced support for pausing the 18 cent federal gas tax for a period of time. 

"President Trump has proposed to suspend the federal gas tax and he’s exactly right," said Senator Hawley. "American workers and families deserve immediate relief and this legislation will do just that.”

While some of the biggest corporations in the world are seeing record profits, the national average for regular gasoline now surpasses $4.50 per gallon. The national average for diesel fuel is nearly $5.70 per gallon. In the State of Missouri, the average price of regular gasoline today sits at over $4 per gallon—a 47% increase from one year ago—and the average price of diesel fuel sits at more than $5.20 per gallon—a 65% increase from one year ago. Senator Hawley’s new legislation would provide immediate relief from these prices by suspending taxes on gas and diesel for at least 90 days.

The Gas Tax Suspension Act will:

—Temporarily suspend the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline for 90 days after enactment.

—Temporarily suspend the 24.4 cents-per-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel for 90 days after enactment.

—Allow the President to extend the suspension for an additional 90 days if he determines that economic conditions merit an extension.

 

Opinion -- Hawley Protests Decision to Award Grants to Planned Parenthood

By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in response to the agency's decision to extend Biden-era Title X grants for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. This action comes despite promises Secretary Kennedy made to Senator Hawley in his 2025 confirmation hearing.

“I write to express my alarm at the recent decision to release another year of Title X grant funding to abortion providers. These grants, originally approved by the Biden Administration, will now directly subsidize organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform hundreds of thousands of abortions each year. I urge you to reverse course,” Senator Hawley wrote.  

He continued, “​During your confirmation hearing last January, I asked if you would reinstate the first Trump Administration’s rule preventing Title X funding for entities that perform abortions. To your credit, you answered unequivocally: “yes.” But to my knowledge, no rulemaking process appears to have yet begun. And taxpayer money continues to flow to abortion providers.”

Senator Hawley has previously introduced legislation to ban all federal tax dollars from flowing to Planned Parenthood.

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

I write to express my alarm at the recent decision to release another year of Title X grant funding to abortion providers. These grants, originally approved by the Biden Administration, will now directly subsidize organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform hundreds of thousands of abortions each year. I urge you to reverse course.

As you know, Congress has long intended to protect taxpayer monies from funding abortions. During the first Trump Administration, HHS finalized the “Protect Life Rule” in 2019, which required federal grant recipients to maintain clear physical and financial separation between Title X-funded projects and abortion services. It worked. Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from the program rather than comply, and tens of millions of dollars in Title X funds were redirected to community health centers and other providers that offer family planning services without promoting abortion. In its zeal to pacify the abortion industry, the Biden Administration rescinded that rule. Your predecessor at HHS then gave unprecedented 5-year grants to abortion providers under the family planning grant program.

During your confirmation hearing last January, I asked if you would reinstate the first Trump Administration’s rule preventing Title X funding for entities that perform abortions. To your credit, you answered unequivocally: “yes.” But to my knowledge, no rulemaking process appears to have yet begun. And taxpayer money continues to flow to abortion providers.

So that Congress can conduct appropriate oversight, please provide written responses to the following questions by April 30, 2026. 

Please explain in detail what specific steps HHS has taken since your confirmation to initiate notice-and-comment rulemaking to reinstate the Protect Life Rule. Please provide a timeline for when a proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register.

What court orders, judgments, or consent decrees compel HHS to fund abortion providers, or otherwise represent the “significant legal challenges” cited by HHS spokespersons?

In California v. Azar, the en banc Ninth Circuit upheld the first Trump Administration’s Protect Life Rule. After the Fourth Circuit took a contrary position, the Supreme Court granted certiorari, but dismissed the petition after subsequent Biden Administration actions mooted the issue. What specific legal developments since that decision does HHS believe would impede successful reimplementation of a substantially similar rule?

HHS has indicated that the forthcoming FY2027 Title X Notice of Funding Opportunities will “prioritize life and promote the pro-family agenda.” How does HHS ensure, in practice, that Title X funds do not subsidize abortion operations at grantee organizations that co-locate abortion and family planning services in the same facilities, given that money is fungible and every federal dollar offsets other operational costs?

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley

United States Senator

 

Opinion -- Hawley Investigating Abortion Drug Manufacturers

By Sen. Josh Hawley’s Office

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent letters to two chemical abortion drug manufacturers—Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro— to inform them that he is opening an investigation into their business practices related to mifepristone as mounting evidence shows women are suffering alarming rates of adverse-effects after taking the drug.

“I write to inform you that I am opening an investigation into Danco Laboratories and its manufacture, distribution, and marketing practices relating to mifepristone. Mounting evidence suggests that mifepristone poses grave risks to women. Yet your company has continued to profit from the widespread distribution of this drug even as serious questions have emerged about hemorrhage, infection, sepsis, and other dangerous complications associated with its use,” Senator Hawley wrote.  

Senator Hawley continued, “​These concerns are especially serious because as mifepristone became more widely distributed, your company was in a position to learn far more about the drug’s real-world consequences than the public. The larger the market for your product has become, the greater your access to adverse-event information, complication data, provider feedback, pharmacy complaints, and post-market safety signals. Yet serious questions remain about whether your company fully investigated those dangers and accurately conveyed them to regulators and the public. The success of your company’s mifepristone business depends on broad distribution and public confidence in the drug’s safety, so your company has a powerful financial incentive to avoid facts that could threaten sales, invite scrutiny, or justify stronger safeguards.”

Senator Hawley concluded, “Congress must determine what your company knew about the harms associated with mifepristone, when it knew it, what it told regulators, and what it may have failed to disclose to women and the public. Accordingly, please produce the documents and information described in the attached Schedule by no later than April 24, 2026. The women exposed to the risks of this drug deserve a full accounting.” 

Senator Hawley is also opening a hotline for women who have been harmed by chemical abortion to confidentially share their stories with his office.

Please contact Senator Hawley's office by calling (202) 224-6154 or emailing AbortionDrugHarms@hawley.senate.gov.

Senator Hawley recently hosted a press conference unveiling his new legislation to ban the chemical abortion drug mifepristone and empower women harmed by the drug to sue its manufacturers. 

 

Opinion -- Sen. Hawley Accuses Fertilizer Companies of Price Gouging

Christopher Bohn, President and Chief Executive Officer, CF Industries Holdings Inc., 2375 Waterview Drive Northbrook, IL 60062

Dear Mr. Bohn: I write regarding the sudden increase in fertilizer prices for American farmers over the last two weeks. The timing and extent of these increases are striking. I trust your company is not engaged in price gouging or otherwise manipulating market conditions for profit. There have, of course, been recent disruptions to the global fertilizer market due to the Iranian conflict overseas, including bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz. But the price run-ups American farmers are facing far outpace any disruption from recent events.

To be more specific, the percentage of U.S. fertilizer supply affected by issues in the Hormuz Strait appears to be minimal compared to the sudden change in prices.

Urea fertilizer prices in the U.S. surged from roughly $516 per metric ton to as high as $683 over the last twelve days. That is a 32 percent increase. Trade reporting likewise indicates that ammonia and other nitrogen fertilizers have risen sharply in recent days.

American farmers cannot absorb another price shock. The current record retail nitrogen pricing, for example, could cripple American corn production. And farmers have already endured historic run-ups in fertilizer prices in 2021 and 2022. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that fertilizer prices rose more than 60% in 2021 alone, including a 95% increase for nitrogen and an increase of more than 70% for potash.

These latest price hikes are especially troubling because the fertilizer industry is highly concentrated. Public reporting indicates that a small group of firms dominates the domestic market for nitrogen, phosphate, and potash. There are now also public reports that the Department of Justice has been investigating whether leading fertilizer producers coordinated to raise prices.

American farmers should not be forced to bankroll opportunistic pricing under cover of an overseas crisis. If your company is using this conflict as a pretext to raise prices beyond what market conditions justify, Congress will not ignore it. Accordingly, please answer the following questions no later than March 27, 2026:

1. Since February 28, 2026, how has your company changed prices for urea, ammonia, phosphate, and any other fertilizer products sold in the United States for spring application? Identify each price change by date, product, geography, and percentage increase.

2. For each such price change, identify with specificity the cost increases that allegedly justified it, including feedstock, freight, insurance, storage, financing, and other inputs.

3. Since February 28, 2022, has your company reduced output, delayed shipments, limited allocations, withdrawn quotes, or otherwise restricted supply to U.S. wholesalers, retailers, or farmers? If so, explain why.

4. What inventories of finished fertilizer products did your company hold on February 28, 2026, and what inventories does it hold today, broken down by product and location?

5. What portion of your company’s current U.S. sales is supplied from inventory or production that was already in place before the outbreak of the Iran conflict?

6. Since February 28, 2026, has your company communicated with any competitor regarding prices, production, inventory, allocations, capacity, market conditions, customer terms, or timing of announcements? If so, identify all such communications, the participants, and the subjects discussed.

7. Since January 1, 2025, has your company used any pricing formula, pricing committee, internal strategy document, or market-monitoring process that references competitor pricing, “price leadership,” parallel pricing, supply discipline, or similar concepts? If so, describe each.

8. Since January 1, 2025, has your company issued any litigation hold, document-preservation notice, or internal directive relating to fertilizer pricing, output, allocations, antitrust, or communications with competitors? If so, state when and why.

9. What were your company’s quarterly gross margins and operating margins for each principal fertilizer product in 2024, 2025, and year-to-date 2026? 10. Does your company commit that it will not use the present conflict as a pretext for unjustified price increases, coordinated conduct, or artificial supply constraints in the U.S. market? If not, why not?

Please also preserve all documents and communications, including texts, chats, and messaging applications, concerning fertilizer pricing, production, inventory, capacity, allocations, freight, and communications with competitors from January 1, 2025, to present. American farmers deserve fair dealing, not exploitation.

 

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley

US Senator