At Hearing, Warren Grills Trump Nominee on Secret Deals with Big Pharma: “I Want To Know What Was Given Away in These Contracts”

Warren: “Was Secretary Kennedy lying when he said he would make those deals available to us?” Warren: “Show me the receipts.” Video of Exchange (YouTube) Washington, D.C. — At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Chris Klomp, President Trump’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on President Trump’s secret deals with drug companies. President Trump has bragged about the administration’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) agreements with pharmaceutical companies, claiming that it has reduced prescription drug prices by as much as 600%, which Senator Warren noted would “mean companies should be paying you to take their drugs.” But the deals for prices on that website have still not been released by President Trump or by Big Pharma. In April 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren pressed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the deals struck with pharmaceutical companies. When pressed on whether he would publicly disclose the deals, Secretary Kennedy — with Mr. Klomp sitting right behind him — confirmed, “I’m happy to make the deals available.” But Secretary Kennedy has broken this promise. “Mr. Klomp, was Secretary Kennedy lying when he said he would make those deals available to us?” asked Senator Warren . When questioned about Kennedy’s failure to share these deals with Congress, Klomp refused to explain why the contracts have not been released. “Show me the receipts,” said Senator Warren. “Five months ago, the Secretary promised that he would deliver those contracts. It’s been five months, and we don’t have them.” Senator Warren noted that pharmaceutical companies that have made these agreements have represented them in earnings reports as unlikely to affect their financial outlook. Earlier this month, the biotech company Insight Corporation wrote that it does not expect its deal with the Trump administration to “have a material impact on its future financial outlook.” One analyst described Pfizer’s deal as “immaterial,” and Novartis and Roche have made the same representations about their own deals. The senator also questioned what giveaways Big Pharma companies may have received in exchange for striking these secret deals with the Trump administration. “I want to know what was given away in these contracts,” stated Senator Warren , including whether drug companies received tariff relief, exemptions from drug pricing demonstrations in Medicare, fast-track FDA approval, and higher prices abroad instead of lower prices in the U.S. “I want to see what the deal is, and until then, you can stop telling us it was all great for the American people, but you just refused to show us the receipts. That’s not how oversight works,” concluded Senator Warren. Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Gerard Klomp, of Utah, to be Deputy Secretary, and Ge Bai, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of Health and Human Services, James Gadwood, of Maryland, to be Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service and an Assistant General Counsel in the Department of the Treasury, and Andrew A. De Mello, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Tax Court for a term of fifteen years. Senate Finance Committee September 15, 2026 Senator Elizabeth Warren: Last year, President Trump and the Republicans slashed health care for millions of Americans. It caused premiums to skyrocket. Americans are now paying the price. And President Trump’s one answer is to say, “Check out the Trump RX website” and the supposedly great deals that he has made with big pharma. So I want to take a look. These deals are secret, but from what we can see, they don’t look so great. That’s why in April, when Secretary Kennedy was here, I asked him if he would make the deals available to the committee. And Mr. Klomp, since you were the Secretary’s chief counselor, you were sitting right behind him when he said, “I’m happy to make the deals available, except for proprietary information and trade secrets.” Now that was five months ago. Since then, I have sent two letters to Secretary Kennedy, asking him to make good on that commitment, but he has not kept his word. Mr. Klomp, was Secretary Kennedy lying when he said he would make those deals available to us? Mr. Klomp: Senator Warren, I do not believe he was lying. I believe that we need to make an important distinction between operative policy and internal deliberative materials. The principles of the deals, the frameworks, the results of them, in fact, from a pricing perspective, are fully available— Senator Warren : I’m sorry, let me just start here. You signed a contract with each of these pharmaceutical companies, right? Mr. Klomp: Correct. Senator Warren : I taught contract law for 30 years. I want to see the contracts, and that is what I asked the Secretary for, and the Secretary said he would deliver those contracts. He might cross out certain proprietary information, trade secrets. I’m fine with that. I want to understand the numbers, and the only way I can do that is with the contracts. So where are the contracts? Mr. Klomp: Senator, the numbers, for example, are freely available. You can see exactly the results of every contract on TrumpRX today. Senator Warren : No, there are no contracts that are available that I can see who made how much money on what deal. I have your general summary, but that’s not what I asked the Secretary for, and it’s not what the Secretary promised to deliver. In fact, HHS continues to keep every one of these deals secret at the same time the president brags that he has lowered prices by 600%, which would mean, of course, that companies are paying you to take the drugs. Aside from that outlandish claim, if these deals were in fact so good, so profitable for the United States, then I would expect that they would lower Big Pharma’s profits. But what executives are telling their investors is not so much. Earlier this month, the biotech company Insight Corporation wrote in its earnings report that it does not expect its deal with the Trump administration to “have a material impact on its future financial outlook.” An analyst described Pfizer’s deal as “immaterial.” And Novartis and Roche have said the same thing about their own deals. Mr. Klomp, you and Secretary Kennedy are keeping these pharma deals secret, the companies are saying they are immaterial, and you still want the American people to believe that they are somehow a really great deal for our country? That we’re getting great prices here? Mr. Klomp : Senator Warren, billions of dollars have already been saved in out-of-pocket transactions through GLP-1s— Senator Warren : Then show me the receipts. Mr. Klomp : —infertility, or otherwise. Senator Warren : Show me the receipts. Why are you hiding these contracts? Mr. Klomp : We’re not hiding anything. In fact, in the Inflation Reduction Act , you inserted the same provisions as Congress, recognizing that if trade secrets, proprietary information were to be shared, that would compromise the government’s ability to negotiate anything. Senator Warren : I’m sorry, let me just stop you right there. You say you’re not hiding anything. Five months ago, the Secretary promised that he would deliver those contracts. It’s been five months, and we don’t have them. I would regard that as hidden. So where are the contracts that are so great and going to show how much money you have saved? Mr. Klomp : Senator Warren, I know that you care deeply about lowering prescription drug prices for Americans. Senator Warren : I do. Mr. Klomp : I agree with you strongly on this point. I know that you wouldn’t want to do something that would compromise the U.S. government’s ability to continue negotiating, which we are actively negotiating with other countries— Senator Warren : No, these are contracts that are already written that I want to see. Mr. Klomp : But our negotiations— Senator Warren : And that Kennedy sat there, said he would do. You sat right behind him. Everybody nodded, and nobody did it. Look, I want to know what was given away in these contracts. I want to see whether these drug companies got tariff relief. Did they get exemptions from drug pricing demonstrations in Medicare? Did they get fast-track FDA approval? Did they get the U.S. government not pushing for lower prices here but for higher prices in other countries? I want to see what the deal is, and until then, you can stop telling us it was all great for the American people, but you just refused to show us the receipts. That’s not how oversight works. Senator Warren has led efforts to push back against Big Pharma and use every tool available in government to lower drug prices: In August 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his refusal to release the Trump administration’s secret pricing deals with drug companies and for breaking a promise he made to Warren in a recent hearing. Senator Warren also released a new response from Secretary Kennedy that raises doubts about the accuracy of the Trump administration’s claims of cost savings from the secret pharma deals. In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), alongside Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) and Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), reintroduced the Patients Before Monopolies (PBM) Act with expanded bipartisan support, indicating growing momentum for a policy that will prohibit joint ownership of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies, a gross conflict of interest that enables these companies to enrich themselves at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies. In April 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on multiple commitments she secured during an exchange in a Senate Finance Committee hearing. In April 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on TrumpRx, revealing how President Trump’s marquee drug pricing effort often provides higher prices for Americans while boosting Big Pharma’s bottom line. In April 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Finance Committee; Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee; and 18 Senate Democrats introduced new legislation to force the Trump Administration to disclose the terms of deals signed with more than a dozen of the largest pharmaceutical companies and conduct an independent analysis to determine whether American families will see lower prices from the deals. In February 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Break Up Big Medicine Act to address rampant consolidation in the health care industry that drives up prices, squashes competition, and fuels corporate greed. In November 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) led 25 Senate Democrats in slamming the Trump administration for its failure to address rising health care costs for American families. In June 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) wrote to AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson, calling them out for taking advantage of tax loopholes created by President Trump’s 2017 tax bill and lobbying for even more tax giveaways. In March 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), pressed Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his promises to “clean up corruption” and “stop the revolving door between industry and government,” following reports that Kennedy attended multiple “million-dollar” dinners with Big Pharma executives at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. ###