Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined fellow Senators in a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers on why the Burke Law Group, aligned with President Donald Trump, was chosen to provide legal services to unaccompanied alien children (UACs).
The Context
Last week, the Trump Administration announced that the Burke Law Group was awarded a $150 million no-bid contract to represent UACs in immigration proceedings, despite the fact that the firm practices law in administration, white-collar defense, and litigation in security and commercial areas.
Marcella Burkey, one of the Burke Law Group's founders, is a former Trump appointee, and former member Jeffrey Hall now serves in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As a result, Sen. Kelly is demanding transparency on why this firm was chosen.
What Kelly is Saying
"Given the political connections between the firm's senior leadership and the Trump administration, we have concerns about why you sidestepped the competitive bidding process to select this firm to provide legal services for children who are in ORR care and custody, and demand transparency into whether all federal procurement processes were followed," Sen. Kelly wrote. "Children deserve competent representation by attorneys who practice at the intersection of child welfare and federal immigration law, but Americans also deserve to know why their federal dollars are being doled out to Trump's friends and allies."
Not the First Time
In June, the Arizona Senator introduced a bill prohibiting the proposed Anti-Weaponization Fund that would pay out restitutions to Trump's allies and January 6th participants who were alleged to have been unfairly targeted and prosecuted, but the proposal was immediately met with criticism and backlash from both sides of the aisle.
Kelly's bill also bans any future settlements or payments stemming from a claim or lawsuit filed by the President of the United States or the Vice President.
