EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Tom Cotton slams Biden-era HHS alcohol study as a “progressive scheme to ban all alcohol”
THE LOWDOWN:
Republicans in Congress are intensifying their criticism of a Biden-era alcohol study conducted by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), which they call a “liberal nanny state” effort to ban all alcohol.
Sen. Tom Cotton said that “wasting taxpayer dollars on studies to ban alcohol is exactly why Joe Biden and his cronies were voted out of the White House”
The study, intended to inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, has sparked a heated debate over transparency, scientific integrity, and alleged overreach by federal agencies. The controversy centers on ICCPUD’s Alcohol Intake and Health Study, which House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) and Subcommittee Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R., Mich.) argue was conducted without congressional approval.
The lawmakers said the study duplicates a $1.3 million study mandated by Congress to be carried out by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The NASEM study, funded through the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, was designed to provide an impartial review of alcohol’s health effects.
As the Trump administration prepares to finalize the 2025 Dietary Guidelines by August 2025, Republicans close to the President are optimistic the White House will get a huge win by rejecting the ICCPUD study.
Republicans in Congress are intensifying their criticism of a Biden-era alcohol study conducted by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD).
The Republicans labeled the study as a “liberal nanny state” effort that threatens American jobs, personal freedoms, and is part of a ploy to eventually ban all alcohol.
The study, intended to inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, has sparked a heated debate over transparency, scientific integrity, and alleged overreach by federal agencies. The controversy centers on ICCPUD’s Alcohol Intake and Health Study, which House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) and Subcommittee Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R., Mich.) argue was conducted without congressional approval.
The lawmakers said the study duplicates a $1.3 million study mandated by Congress to be carried out by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The NASEM study, funded through the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, was designed to provide an impartial review of alcohol’s health effects.
However, in 2022, Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tasked ICCPUD — a committee focused on preventing underage drinking — with conducting its own study, raising concerns among lawmakers.
Comer, a vocal advocate for Kentucky’s alcohol industry, has led the charge against ICCPUD, issuing subpoenas to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in September 2024 for documents related to the study’s development.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) shared his thoughts on Biden’s study — and he did not hold back.
“Wasting taxpayer dollars on studies to ban alcohol is exactly why Joe Biden and his cronies were voted out of the White House,” Cotton told the Washington Reporter.
The ICCPUD study has also drawn scrutiny for its panel composition and alleged biases. Of the six-member scientific review panel, three are Canadian researchers, including Dr. Timothy Naimi, who has ties to the International Order of Good Templars (IOGT), a temperance organization.
Naimi previously advocated for reducing U.S. alcohol consumption limits to one drink per day for both men and women, a proposal rejected in 2020. Critics, including the Consumer Choice Center, have called the panel’s work “pseudo-scientific” and pointed to conflicts of interest, noting that ICCPUD’s draft report, released in January 2025, emphasizes alcohol’s health risks while downplaying the potential benefits of moderate consumption.
As the Trump administration prepares to finalize the 2025 Dietary Guidelines by August 2025, Republicans close to the President are optimistic the White House will get a huge win by rejecting the ICCPUD study.
One congressional official said, “Republicans are united — actually, so everyone is united — in getting rid of this progressive scheme to ban all alcohol and control our lives.”
“The President is going to get a huge win when they finally throw this progressive “study” in the trash,” the official added.
A source close to President Trump said that “banning alcohol would be an unmitigated disaster, especially to Trump-heavy states like Kentucky and Tennessee. Republicans should oppose this Biden deep state move.”
