Two key Michigan Congressmen question FDA's plan to outsource more than 300 jobs

WASHINGTON Two House Democrats, Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupack, both Michigan Democrats, are investigating the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to consider outsourcing more than 300 jobs.

Dingell and 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 the Import Safety Working Group formed last month by the White House.

"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 Dingel, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, and Stupak, who chairs its subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly said the agency will remain "committed to our dedicated work force and continue to improve operational efficiency directed at protecting the health and safety of the American public." He said that the FDA is reviewing the letter and plans on responding shortly.

The FDA has reported that their list of outsourced jobs includes only administrative jobs that aren’t directly involved in safety inspections.