{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/kelly-colleagues-demand-answers-on-trump-aligned-law-firm-hired-to-represent-unaccompanied-children/", "Kelly, Colleagues Demand Answers on Trump-Aligned Law Firm Hired to Represent Unaccompanied Children", "2026-08-11", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "AZ", "Mark Kelly", "K000377", "www.kelly.senate.gov", "markkelly", "https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and other Senate colleagues demanded answers from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Trump administration awarded a no-bid contract to a Trump-aligned law firm with no apparent immigration law experience, allowing them to provide legal services to unaccompanied children in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).\n\n\u201cGiven the political connections between the firm\u2019s 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,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cChildren 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\u2019s friends and allies.\u201d\n\nThe Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through ORR, has an obligation to ensure that unaccompanied children are provided competent legal aid as they navigate the immigration process. Despite this, Secretary Kennedy has cut funding for nonprofit legal services for 26,000 unaccompanied children, shifting funding to the Trump-aligned Burke Law Group, despite the firm\u2019s lack of experience protecting the rights of immigrant children.\n\nIn the letter, the senators demanded that Secretary Kennedy provide transparency as to why the Burke Law Group received this contract and details about the firm\u2019s plans to provide legal assistance to unaccompanied children.\n\nIn addition to Kelly and Murphy, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).", 1, "2026-08-12T06:18:38Z", "2026-08-12T06:20:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/kelly-colleagues-demand-answers-on-trump-aligned-law-firm-hired-to-represent-unaccompanied-children/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7327350322157145, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}