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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is refusing to have secretary Alex Azar testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the administration’s child separation policy, according to the panel’s chairman. “[Azar’s] denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks on the family separation policy is unacceptable, and we are going to get him here at some point one way or another,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) said in a statement. (Weixel, 1/22)

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who announced earlier this month plans to hold a hearing on the administration's separation policy, had personally asked Azar to testify, a committee spokesperson told POLITICO. Azar's office declined the request Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson said. "It has been eight months since this cruel policy came to light, and Secretary Azar has yet to appear before Congress at a hearing specifically on this policy," Pallone said in a statement, calling Azar's refusal "unacceptable." (Diamond, 1/22)

HHS has participated in briefings with congressional staff to update them on the children and has coordinated more than 100 visits for members of Congress to facilities where the children are housed, Stauffer said. Azar has largely avoided talking about the policy publicly. “The secretary is fully committed to providing committees with the best subject matter experts available at the department to answer any questions about our programs,” she said. (Edney, 1/22)

Immigrant advocates said Tuesday they are suing the U.S. government, claiming it is detaining immigrant children too long and improperly refusing to release them to relatives. A federal lawsuit filed last year in Alexandria, Virginia, was expanded on Friday to propose including the cases of more than 10,000 children. (1/22)