Battle over Healthcare.Gov Paper Trail Reaches House Leadership

The battle over releasing contractor documents that may reveal security weaknesses in HealthCare.gov, the Obama administration’s online health insurance marketplace, reached the leadership level as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner requesting a classified briefing about the documents.

Rep Pelosi wants the Republican chairs of several House committees to sit down with the Administration’s top cybersecurity officials to hear their case for why documents subpoenaed by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) should not be released. Contractors submitted unredacted copies of the documents, including a mid-October security review, to Rep Issa last week over the objection of officials at the Health and Human Services Department. They argued releasing the documents could give hackers a roadmap to interfere with HealthCare.gov’s operations or to steal insurance seekers’ personal information. Rep Issa has said he will not release any information that would endanger the site’s security, but he feels compelled to give Americans’ fair warning if their personal data such as social security numbers may be at risk.