U.S. Representative Diana DeGette, who has represented Colorado’s 1st district in Congress since 1997, posted a series of statements on her official Twitter account on May 13, 2026, criticizing federal public health leadership and calling for the dismantling of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a post at 14:39 UTC, DeGette wrote: “We have an acting CDC director. We have an acting FDA commissioner. And our HHS secretary is an anti-vax conspiracy theorist. Our nation’s public health leadership is non-existent, and Americans are suffering because of it.”
Later that day at 16:01 UTC, she addressed immigration enforcement agencies: “ICE is beyond reform. It’s time to dismantle and defund ICE.”
At 18:52 UTC, DeGette criticized Republican members of her Health Subcommittee: “Republicans on my Health Subcommittee need to stop waiting for Donald Trump’s permission to do their job. We could be passing bills to lower health care costs, protect rural hospitals, and turbocharge American biomedical research. Unfortunately, this majority has only”
DeGette has served as the representative for Colorado’s 1st District since replacing Pat Schroeder in 1997 and previously served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997. She was born in Tachikawa, Japan in 1957 and currently resides in Denver at age 65. DeGette graduated from Colorado College with a BA in 1979 and earned her JD from New York University in 1982.
