June 16, 2022

The Honorable Xavier Becerra The Honorable Shalanda Young

Secretary Director
Department of Health and Human Services The Office of Management and Budget
200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 725 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201 Washington, D.C. 20503

The Honorable Samantha Power

Acting Administrator
United States Agency for International Development
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Secretary Becerra, Director Young, and Director Power:

As part of an $88.2 billion proposal to invest in Pandemic Preparedness and Biodefense, the
FY23 budget requests $500 million for a single non-governmental organization (NGO), the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI).1 CEPI is the only NGO or private
entity with a dedicated funding allocation for this purpose. As members of Congress with the
responsibility of directing and controlling federal spending, we write to better understand the
nature and origin of this funding request.

As Congress continues to debate increased spending on pandemic preparedness, it is critical to

ensure federal tax dollars are budgeted in a fair and fiscally responsible manner. Throughout the
pandemic, joint public-private partnerships orchestrated by Operation Warp Speed under former
President Trump have proven successful and led to the rapid production and distribution of life-
saving vaccines and therapeutics. These awards were calculated, needs-based decisions to
various entities with assumed risk. Conversely, President Biden’s FY23 budget calls for a
specific allocation to CEPI through no evident bidding process. In addition to the creation of a
$4.5 billion Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness Fund to contract with
international health organizations, the budget request includes a separate, $500 million line item
for CEPI. This $500 million request for CEPI is significantly larger than the federal
government’s previous five-year distribution of $20 million, making the United States the single
largest contributor to CEPI.2

The lack of transparency and justification for this funding increase raises concerns. Furthermore,
CEPI’s close ties to the Obama-Biden and Biden-Harris Administrations, suggest a revolving

1
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/28/fact-sheet-the-biden-administrations-
historic-investment-in-pandemic-preparedness-and-biodefense-in-the-fy-2023-presidents-budget/
2
https://cepi.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/CEPI_2021-Annual-Progress-Report-1.pdf
door of politically-connected personnel where Administration friends are rewarded with federal
dollars, as detailed below:
• CEPI was founded in the final days of the Obama-Biden Administration in January 2017,
while Dawn O’Connell served as a Counselor to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) Secretary under President Obama.3
• Ms. O’Connell then became the Director of CEPI’s U.S. office upon leaving the agency,
working in this capacity for four years.
• While at CEPI, Ms. O’Connell lobbied the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) in “support of appropriations from USAID to CEPI… [and an]
Unsolicited Proposal Concept Note… for possible cooperative agreement funding
relationship.”4
• Ms. O’Connell has now rejoined HHS as President Biden’s Assistant Secretary for
Preparedness and Response (ASPR), serving in a senior position capable of making or
influencing these types of funding decisions.
• Furthermore, CEPI’s current Director of the U.S. office is Dr. Nicole Lurie, who served
as ASPR under the Obama Administration.5

To allow Congress to properly review the nature of the request, please provide us with and
answers to the following questions by June 30, 2022.
1. What is the justification for the President’s request to specifically grant CEPI $500
million for vaccine development and deployment, separate from the proposed $4.5 billion
Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness Fund?
2. What contributions has CEPI made to the COVID-19 Pandemic response and what
contributions does it intend to make in the future for pandemic preparedness?
3. What is the justification for a 2,400 percent increase in funding from the federal
government’s previous five-year allocation?
4. Were any other non-profits or NGOs considered as potential recipients of the funds
earmarked for CEPI? If so, which ones?
5. Which federal agencies, offices, and individuals were consulted in the development of the
$500 million request for CEPI?
6. Why has no lobbyist for CEPI ever registered under the Foreign Agent Registration Act
(FARA), given the primary beneficiaries of such a large infusion of taxpayer dollars will
be the foreign governments funding the group’s operations?

We look forward to better understanding the background and impetus for CEPI’s funding
increase in the FY23 budget request. If you have questions, please contact Caleb Hays
(Caleb.Hays@mail.house.gov) with the Committee on House Administration. Thank you for
your attention to this request.

3
https://aspr.hhs.gov/AboutASPR/LeadershipBiographies/Pages/Leadership-O'Connell.aspx
4
https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/5e4b1287-cf74-4636-ad15-309107a88f25/print/
5
https://cepi.net/news_cepi/former-assistant-secretary-for-preparedness-and-response-dr-nicole-lurie-appointed-us-
director-at-cepi-the-global-partnership-to-develop-vaccines-to-stop-future-epidemics/
 Sincerely,

_________________________________ _________________________________
Rodney Davis Jason Smith
Ranking Member Ranking Member
Committee on House Administration House Budget Committee

_________________________________ _________________________________
Glenn “GT” Thompson Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Ranking Member Ranking Member
House Agriculture Committee House Energy and Commerce Committee