Dingell, Stupak look into FDA's plan to outsource 322 jobs

Michigan Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak sent a letter Friday to the FDA, requesting all documents connected with the agency's plan to consider contracting 322 jobs to private companies. In a statement, the congressmen called the plan "hasty and injudicious" and said the FDA should wait for the recommendations of an Import Safety Working Group formed last month by the White House. The group is tasked with improving the safety of U.S. imports after a string of tainted products, including toothpaste, seafood and pet food, entered the U.S. from China. "It is truly incomprehensible why the agency would again consider reducing the expertise and institutional knowledge of the FDA at a time when FDA's credibility with the American people is at an all-time low," said the statement from Dingell and Stupak. The FDA earlier this month suspended a plan to shut down seven of 13 field laboratories nationwide after the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents FDA employees, waged a campaign criticizing the shutdowns. Last week NTEU said agency officials provided the union with a list of jobs it would consider outsourcing that included lab technicians who work at FDA facilities where food and medical products are inspected for safety. However, FDA said a revised list includes only administrative jobs that aren't directly involved in safety inspections. Dingell is chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Stupak chairs its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In the past year, the congressmen have become some of FDA's harshest critics in Congress, launching investigations into the handling of everything from drug approvals to food inspections and government whistle-blowers. The FDA declined comment on the letter from the congressmen.