House Republicans Press HHS to Update Drug-Testing Rules

Oral-fluid testing was approved for regulated use in 2023. (dusanpetkovic — Getty Images)

Federal drug-testing rules overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services are drawing renewed pressure from trucking interests after six House Republicans urged the agency to update regulations governing safety-sensitive transportation workers — a move praised by American Trucking Associations.

These efforts focus on hair and oral-fluid testing in safety-sensitive industries, a priority for trucking stakeholders.

In a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on April 16, the lawmakers called on the department to update drug testing rules that apply to commercial transportation workers and safety-sensitive employees, arguing outdated regulations could undermine public safety.

The letter was signed by Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland, Ben Cline of Virginia, Pete Sessions of Texas, Mike Bost of Illinois, Mike Collins of Georgia and Claudia Tenney of New York. Bost and Collins are senior members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“For far too long, HHS has dragged its feet on implementing science-based drug testing policy, and these bureaucratic delays have come at the expense of safety,” ATA President Chris Spear said April 17. He praised the lawmakers for pressing HHS to “follow the law and strengthen safety across the nation’s transportation network.”

In their letter, the lawmakers said federal workplace drug testing programs “serve a critical public safety mission.” However, they warned current regulatory structures now threaten the relevance and effectiveness of such programs.

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Reps. Mike Bost (left) and Mike Collins 

Oral-fluid testing was approved for regulated use in 2023. Meaningful progress, however, has been lacking due to certain regulatory instructions tied to the Food and Drug Administration, according to the lawmakers’ letter. They also noted that Congress first directed HHS in 2015 to recognize hair testing as a valid alternative to urine testing for commercial motor vehicle drivers, but the agency has yet to issue final guidance. Congress has since reaffirmed that directive to HHS.

The lawmakers said a primary obstacle to wider adoption of oral-fluid testing is the FDA’s role in overseeing workplace drug testing programs. The agency’s clearance process is structured around clinical diagnostic testing, they argued, and is not well-suited for forensic workplace testing. More than 6.5 million DOT-regulated workers, as well as hundreds of thousands of federal employees, are covered.

Moreover, they noted workplace drug testing programs already receive oversight from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Laboratory Certification Program, which they argue meets or exceeds FDA standards.

In the letter, the lawmakers urged HHS to finalize long-delayed hair testing guidelines. They also urged the department to exempt workplace drug testing programs from FDA review, reaffirm SAMHSA and NLCP as the oversight framework, and direct SAMHSA’s Division of Workplace Programs to oversee future updates to drugs, cutoffs, testing technologies and specimen types. Doing so, they argued, would be “ensuring the federal program can remain current and responsive to evolving public safety threats.”

The lawmakers said modernization is increasingly urgent as efforts to defeat traditional urine drug tests grow. They cited an analysis of Quest Diagnostics data that found substituted specimens and invalid specimens increased significantly in recent years among federally regulated, safety-sensitive workers.

“Oral fluid, hair and other directly observed specimen types significantly reduce the opportunity for specimen substitution and have demonstrated higher positivity rates as a result,” the lawmakers wrote.

The department was asked to share a timeline for proceeding with a regulatory update within 30 days.