Emergent execs set to testify before some of the same lawmakers its political spending helped elect: report

Emergent BioSolutions' influence within the federal government has been placed under a spotlight ever since a manufacturing flub forced the contractor to discard millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. Now, two of the company's top execs are headed to Congress to discuss that work before lawmakers it helped elect. On Wednesday morning, Emergent founder and executive chairman Fuad El-Hibri and CEO Robert Kramer will testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus to discuss their company's production problems, political connections and the hundreds of millions of dollars it received in federal funding last year to manufacture pandemic vaccines. At least three members on the panel have benefited directly from Emergent's political spending, The New York Times reports. El-Hibri and his wife since 2018 have pledged at least $150,000 to campaigns and groups affiliated with the panel's top republican, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, according to federal campaign records.