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11/10/26 – I am receiving additional reports from multiple Capitol Hill staffers that the U.S. Navy has been removing active-duty sailors assigned to the Office of the Attending Physician at the U.S. Capitol. According to these reports, efforts to remove the sailors were initially met with resistance from a member of Congress, who allegedly prevented Navy personnel from entering the office. However, over the past week, nearly all of the sailors have reportedly been removed, with personnel gradually being reassigned. At the center of this developing situation are serious questions about the legal authority under which the Office of the Attending Physician has been operating. The office was originally established through House and Senate resolutions nearly a century ago, with subsequent congressional appropriations supporting its operations. Questions are now being raised about whether those authorizations, which addressed emergency medical care, also permit the office to provide ongoing primary care services to members of Congress. According to information being shared with me, the Navy’s reported intervention stems from concerns that the office has been operating beyond its authorized scope. If the existing resolutions and appropriations do not authorize primary care services, Congress may need to enact additional legislation to expressly authorize those operations. But that raises an even larger question. If taxpayer funds have been used for decades to provide primary care services that were never legally authorized, what does that mean for the expenditure of those funds over the years? This could raise significant questions about congressional oversight, appropriations law, and the legal authority under which military personnel have been assigned to provide medical services at the Capitol. I am continuing to investigate these reports, including the circumstances surrounding the sailors’ removal, the Navy’s involvement, and the legal authority governing the office’s operations.

— Desirée Townsend (@DesireeReports) November 10, 2026

I am receiving additional reports from multiple Capitol Hill staffers that the U.S. Navy has been removing active-duty sailors assigned to the Office of the Attending Physician at the U.S. Capitol.

According to these reports, efforts to remove the sailors were initially met with resistance from a member of Congress, who allegedly prevented Navy personnel from entering the office. However, over the past week, nearly all of the sailors have reportedly been removed, with personnel gradually being reassigned.

At the center of this developing situation are serious questions about the legal authority under which the Office of the Attending Physician has been operating.

The office was originally established through House and Senate resolutions nearly a century ago, with subsequent congressional appropriations supporting its operations. Questions are now being raised about whether those authorizations, which addressed emergency medical care, also permit the office to provide ongoing primary care services to members of Congress.

According to information being shared with me, the Navy’s reported intervention stems from concerns that the office has been operating beyond its authorized scope.

If the existing resolutions and appropriations do not authorize primary care services, Congress may need to enact additional legislation to expressly authorize those operations.

But that raises an even larger question.

If taxpayer funds have been used for decades to provide primary care services that were never legally authorized, what does that mean for the expenditure of those funds over the years?

This could raise significant questions about congressional oversight, appropriations law, and the legal authority under which military personnel have been assigned to provide medical services at the Capitol.

I am continuing to investigate these reports, including the circumstances surrounding the sailors’ removal, the Navy’s involvement, and the legal authority governing the office’s operations.