When chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations within the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Whitfield held hearings on child pornography and during his tenure as Chairman of Energy and Power has chaired over 40 hearings on energy issues. He has focused significant time and resources to inform the American people about President Obama's Clean Power Plan which was initiated by regulation through the EPA. President Obama and EPA did not consult or make any effort to work with Congress before issuing the Clean Power Plan to dictate the way electricity would be generated in the future. Chairman Whitfield referred to the Clean Power Plan as "extreme" and an "unprecedented power grab". At one of his hearings, Professor Lawrence Tribe, who teaches Constitutional Law at Harvard University said the Clean Power Plan if implemented, would be like tearing up the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court, in considering a petition filed by 27 States opposed to the Clean Power Plan issued an injunction to stop implementation of the Clean Power Plan. The DC Federal Court of Appeals is currently preparing to hear oral arguments on the Clean Power Plan.