FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 3, 2025

Contact: Jack Cardinal, jcardinal@communitycatalyst.org

Washington, D.C. – In response to reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has proposed eliminating the public comment process for much of the proposed rules at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Community Catalyst is calling out this unprecedented and dangerous threat to public engagement in government policymaking. 

The public comment process has long been a cornerstone of a fair and just democracy, ensuring that policies impacting people’s health and well-being are shaped not only by powerful special interests but also by the voices of those most impacted. Eliminating this process would strip communities of a critical tool for holding policymakers accountable and would further tilt the balance of power toward corporate interests and lobbyists.

Statement from Mona Shah, Senior Director of Policy & Strategy: 

“The public comment process is a fundamental part of a fair and just democracy—a longstanding practice that ensures policies impacting people’s health and well-being are shaped not just by powerful special interest groups, but by the voices of those most affected. Kennedy’s unprecedented threat to abolish this process would silence communities and strip the public of a critical tool for holding policymakers accountable. It is the opposite of promises made by Secretary Kennedy and President Trump to make government and, in particular, HHS more transparent. Democracy works when power is shared—not when it is concentrated in the hands of a few.”

As policymakers weigh this proposal, Community Catalyst urges the public to oppose this attack on democratic participation and demand that their voices remain central in shaping the policies that impact their health and well-being. 

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About Community Catalyst: 

Community Catalyst is a national organization dedicated to building the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and a society where health is a right for all. We’re an experienced, trusted partner to organizations across the country, a change agent to policymakers at the local, state, and national level, and both an adversary and a collaborator to health systems in our efforts to advance health justice. We partner with local, state and national organizations and leaders to leverage and build power so that people are at the center of important decisions about health and health care, whether they are made by health care executives, in state houses, or on Capitol Hill. Together with partners, we’re building a powerful, united movement with a shared vision of and strategy for a health system accountable to all people. Learn more at www.communitycatalyst.org.