December 29, 2025
Democrats question whether the Trump administration is dodging Capitol Hill hearings to keep secrets.
The pattern of Trump administration leaders not testifying publicly on Capitol Hill is causing leaders of the Democratic Party to wonder if this is another strategy to avoid the legislative branch—and keep secrets.
There are several important issues that lawmakers’ constituents want to hear about from members of the Trump administration. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee since May 2025 amid growing concerns on his vaccine skepticism.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) claims he had a commitment from Kennedy to testify once a quarter if asked, the Washington Post reports. But that has yet to happen.
Similar instances have occurred with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, who has pushed against testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee amid growing criticism of ICE agents terrorizing the streets of metro U.S. cities. Defense—or Department of War Secretary—Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to brief lawmakers privately on the administration’s controversial strikes on boats accused of carrying drugs on the Caribbean Sea. But voters have yet to hear from them about the strikes.
And Democrats want to know why.
“We’ve had no serious public congressional hearings on the threat of military conflict off the coast of Venezuela, no public testimony from defense officials on this issue,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) said. “Where are Senate Republicans? Where’s the oversight?”
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a top Democrat serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, described December 2025 as being “entirely dissatisfied with the Trump administration’s engagement with Congress” especially regarding the boat strikes that have killed more than 100 people.
While White House spokesperson Anna Kelly released a statement that the administration communicates with lawmakers on the regular, “constantly explaining our policies and receiving real-time feedback to ensure we are most effectively implementing the agenda the American people elected President Trump to enact,” the receipts say differently.
Key figures in the administration testified more during year one of former President Joe Biden’s reign than they have since President Donald Trump took over, with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee having two full committee hearings with administration witnesses in 2025—down from 24 hearings in 2021. The House Foreign Affairs Committee made 47 appearances in 2021 alone and only 12 this year.
Of course, GOP members like Sen. James E. Risch (R-ID), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, disagree with Democrats. Risch said he is “very satisfied” with the team’s engagement and “looks forward to more hearings” in the new year.
Republicans hyping up the administration’s “engagement” could just be another strategy to keep them at the forefront of voters as midterm season is getting ready to gear up. During an appearance on Fox News, Republican strategist Karl Rove encouraged Trump leaders to hype up the accomplishments as an attempt to guarantee support in the midterms.
According to The Hill, Rove pointed out that Trump is ending the year with the “lowest approval rating in modern times for a president” and he “has got to get those numbers up. He [Trump] needs to lower the expectations, and over-deliver. Under-promise and over-deliver ought to be the goal of the next year.”
Added Rove, “Americans are not feeling the economy is great. For him to stand up and say—as he did first in Pennsylvania, then in North Carolina—that ‘everything is great,’ it does not resonate with the felt experience of ordinary American families.”
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