Month: May 2021

Capitol Hill Update

The Senate will reconvene again this week, closing out the May legislative session with a pair of notable votes. When the chamber meets later this afternoon, Senators will take up a procedural motion on Chiquita Brooks-LaSure’s nomination to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with final confirmation likely to occur in the middle of the week. Additionally, the Senate will resume consideration of Endless Frontier Act amendments, beginning with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell’s (D-WA) proposal for a supply chain resiliency program. Final passage of the bipartisan $100 billion technology innovation package is expected to take place at the end of the week.

Continue reading “Health Policy Report (5/24)”

Capitol Hill Update

Both chambers of Congress will return to action this afternoon. On the Senate floor this week, Senators will consider the Endless Frontier Act — a bipartisan package that would spur $100 billion in new funding toward technology research and development to combat the competitive threat posed by China. Lawmakers on the Commerce Committee approved the legislation on a strong bipartisan basis, but additional changes are likely on the horizon as hundreds of amendments have been filed to the underlying bill. The final funding number for a new tech directorate at the National Science Foundation is also up in the air after Senators approved an amendment that would shift some of the $100 billion for the directorate to programs at the Department of Energy. The legislation’s GOP cosponsor, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), expressed strong opposition to the amendment offered by Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), arguing that the new language is a “poison pill” that will make it harder to pass.

Continue reading “Health Policy Report (5/17)”

Capitol Hill Update 

Both chambers of Congress will resume votes this week, starting with the Senate later this afternoon. Senators are expected to focus on clearing presidential nominations to kick off May votes, beginning with the nomination of Andrea Palm to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is also possible that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will move to discharge Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from the Finance Committee, followed by consideration of her nomination on the floor sometime later in the week. Brooks-LaSure’s nomination failed to advance (14-14) at the Committee’s executive session last month due to GOP opposition. In the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that lawmakers will take up a series of bipartisan suspension bills that seek to address several mental health needs related to: (1) suicide prevention efforts; (2) grants for school-based mental health services; and (3) disparities in care among underserved and high-poverty communities. Also on the floor next week, Members will take up a package of debt collection reform bills out of the House Financial Services Committee. 

Continue reading “Health Policy Report (5/10)”

Congress has formally closed out its April legislative session following Senate passage (89-2) of the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S. 914). Looking ahead to this week, Senators will be out of Washington for a state work period, while House lawmakers convene another slate of Committee Work Days. This week’s schedule features a pair of Subcommittee legislative hearings focused on the cost of prescription drugs in the Energy & Commerce and Education & Labor Committees. Both chambers will resume votes during the week of May 10.

Continue reading “Health Policy Report (5/3)”