00:00Thank you, thank you Mr. Chairman. So Congress is deeply worried about the
00:05opioid crisis and mental health issues. So last year we allocated more than
00:10seven billion dollars for the prevention and treatment of these conditions.
00:15Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heads the Department of Health and Human
00:19Services, which is charged by law with administering that funding through the
00:23Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA. Mr. Stewart, if
00:30confirmed you will be the top lawyer at HHS advising Secretary Kennedy. So let's do
00:37a little law so that we can understand what kind of advice you would give to
00:42the Secretary. 42 U.S.C. 300X-55 says HHS shall terminate SAMHSA grants only if
00:52quote, a state has materially failed to comply with the agreements or other
00:59conditions required for the receipt of the grant. That is the only condition under
01:04which Congress says these grants can be canceled. So Mr. Stewart, let's start easy.
01:08I've read you the statutory language. Can Secretary Kennedy wake up in a bad mood
01:14one morning and simply say to the worker who is running a suicide hotline, I don't
01:22like your face, I'm canceling your state's grant money. Well let me first respond by
01:27saying thank you very much for the opportunity and I look forward to working
01:30with you in the future. I did receive your letter. I appreciate that but we're
01:34very limited on time. Sure. Would that be legal? So what I can tell you is that in
01:39every instance I'll give the advice of complying with the law. No, that's not the question I ask. I'm asking you if Secretary
01:46Kennedy wakes up in a bad mood one morning. Can he say to somebody, I don't like your
01:51face so I'm canceling your state's SAMHSA grant? Well what I'd like to do is review the
01:57code and all the code provisions. I just read you the code language. Did you have any
02:02problem understanding it? A state, you can only do cancellation if a state has
02:08materially failed to comply with the agreements or other conditions required for
02:14the receipt of the grant. That's all it says. The key words though are the agreements
02:18and the terms of those. You think there's an agreement out there that says that the
02:23Secretary can cancel a grant because I don't like your face? No, so I think that so I don't
02:30believe that's been the case. I don't believe that's ever happened. I have no reason. I'm asking you
02:35about the legal advice you will give and I want to understand under a statute that says these are the
02:43only conditions under which a grant can be cancelled. Do you think Secretary Kennedy can say I don't
02:51like your face so I'm canceling your grant? So accepting that term I don't like your face what
02:56I'm telling you is that the terms and conditions of those agreements matter and so we have to review
03:02those. I don't think any of them say I don't like your face. No, I agree with you on this but I
03:06I haven't heard Secretary. Look we're three minutes into this can I just have a yeah that would be illegal?
03:14That you can't cancel a contract to my knowledge because you don't like somebody's face.
03:19Okay, let's do a second one. What if Secretary Kennedy wakes up in a bad mood and he said
03:25I heard you're a Republican and it turns out I really don't like Republicans
03:30so I'm going to cancel your grant for your addiction treatment center. You think that would be legal?
03:38Secretary, I think that there's a formula to review these things. I believe Secretary Kennedy
03:43can we go to council and ask for these things? I'm asking if the secretary wanted to do that,
03:48he wanted to cancel all the grants that are held by Republicans, would that be legal?
03:52My advice would be to follow the rules and the laws with respect to everyone. You are the one who's
03:57supposed to tell him how to interpret a statute that says the only conditions are if the state
04:04is not meeting the terms of the contract. We've got to meet the terms of the contract. If they're
04:08outside the terms of the contract, it can be canceled. Okay, so can it cancel because you're a Republican?
04:15If it's not included in the terms of the contract, no.
04:17If it's not included in the contract, bingo. Okay, so the answer is that would be illegal, right?
04:20How about the third one? Your work is no longer necessary. Your state's grant is canceled. Let's
04:27just say there's nothing in the contract about whether the work is necessary. Would it be illegal
04:34to cancel the grant under those conditions? That's not as easy a question as simply saying yes or no.
04:39Well, listen, we've got to be able to look in terms of the intent of these contracts as well.
04:44No, that's not what the statute says. And you are the lawyer who is giving
04:50advice to Secretary Kennedy. And so I want to know, as the person who gives advice,
04:56when you read statutory language that says there's only one condition under which you can do this,
05:02and that is if the state has materially failed to comply with the agreements or other conditions,
05:08that you can cancel the grant. And by the way, you have to give notice in a hearing for doing that.
05:13Can he wake up and say, we decided we don't need you anymore? If that's not in the grant?
05:19My advice will always be to follow the terms and agreements.
05:23So in this case, you would say you can't do that, Mr. Secretary?
05:27I will give the advice to follow the terms of both the code and those agreements.
05:31Okay, and if the contract doesn't say that, you will tell the secretary not to do it?
05:35In every instance, we will follow the terms and conditions and make sure we follow the code.
05:40Well, I really hope you do follow the terms and conditions in the agreement,
05:43because that is exactly the letter that Secretary Kennedy sent,
05:48canceling projects all over this country. And the only grounds he gave were grounds that are not
05:55in the contract and clearly in violation of the law. So I hope, Mr. Stewart, based on what you've said,
06:00you will deliver that message to Secretary Kennedy and give advice that is consistent
06:05with the law in the future. Thank you.
06:09Thank you. And Senator Young.
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