DC Insight - 7/1/22

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House spending bills spread around $8 billion worth of earmarks
Roll Call – June 28, 2022
Under guidelines enforced by House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and her Senate counterpart, Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., total earmarked funds can’t exceed 1 percent of the overall pot of discretionary funds subject to appropriation, which is $1.6 trillion. By that metric, senators, who haven’t yet offered their spending bills, could add another $8 billion and remain below a $16 billion ceiling for next fiscal year.

Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2023 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Funding Bill
House Appropriations Committee – June 28, 2022
The House Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2023 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies bill on a 31 to 24 vote.
For 2023, the bill provides $85.5 billion, an increase of $7.6 billion – 9.7 percent – above the comparable 2022 level. A summary of the bill is here. The text of the draft bill is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee’s commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Funding Bill
House Appropriations Committee – June 30, 2022
The House Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill on a 32 to 24 vote. For 2023, the bill provides $242.1 billion, an increase of $28.5 billion – 13 percent – above 2022. A summary of the bill is here. The text of the draft bill is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee’s commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

Leahy recovering from hip replacement surgery
Roll Call – June 30, 2022
A health scare showed Democrats Thursday how hard it may be to pass a partisan tax and spending package without any Republican support in an evenly divided Senate. Appropriations Chairman Patrick J. Leahy broke his hip after taking a fall in his McLean, Va., home Wednesday night and underwent hip replacement surgery Thursday. The 82-year-old Vermont Democrat was "comfortably recovering" at a Washington area hospital, his office said in a statement Thursday night.

Biden to announce extension of increased US troop presence in Poland: report
The Hill – June 30, 2022
President Biden reportedly plans to announce the extended presence of American troops in Poland who were stationed there over the winter amid Russia’s war against Ukraine. Biden will officially make the announcement while in Europe for a NATO security alliance summit he is attending with other world leaders, NBC News reported on Monday, citing two former administration officials with the matter.

Pentagon: Supreme Court abortion ruling won’t affect procedure on military facilities
The Hill – June 28, 2022
The Pentagon on Tuesday sought to alleviate fears over the impact on service members or dependents from last week’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The Defense Department said in a memo it will continue to provide abortions in cases when the mother’s life is at risk or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, instances known as “covered abortions.”

Supreme Court limits EPA power plant carbon emissions authority
Roll Call – June 30, 2022
The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply curtailed the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon pollution from electric utilities, dealing a blow to the Biden administration's efforts to rein in climate change as scientists warn greenhouse gases are accumulating at a perilous pace.

McConnell threatens support for China bill, citing budget talks
Roll Call – June 30, 2022
Republicans won’t back compromise legislation to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and U.S. competitiveness with China if Democrats continue to negotiate a partisan budget package that can pass without GOP support, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.

American College of Physicians calls US food insecurity a threat to public health
The Hill – June 27, 2022
Inadequate access to nutrition has become a threat to public health in the U.S., amplifying existing food insecurity and social issues, the American College of Physicians declared on Monday. With about 10 percent of the U.S. population suffering from food insecurity, more needs to be done to address the source of the problem and strengthen public health, the organization said in a new position paper.

State policy changes intensify in wake of Supreme Court decision
Roll Call – June 27, 2022
In the hours after the Supreme Court signaled an end to the national right to abortion Friday, a cascade of abortion bans began to take effect across the country. Trigger laws, meant to go into effect in the absence of the legal precedent established under the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, took effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.

Biden administration announces actions to protect abortion rights
Roll Call – June 28, 2022
The Biden administration is launching a multipronged effort to respond to the Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 ruling establishing a right to an abortion, with Health and Human Services, the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management among the agencies to weigh in.

Health Care — White House rejects using federal land for abortion
The Hill – June 28, 2022
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday warned that there could be “dangerous ramifications” to providing abortion services on federal lands in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade.

Warren calls on HHS to provide access to voter registration services through health insurance applications
The Hill – June 29, 2022
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling on the Biden administration to provide access to voter registration services through healthcare.gov, where Americans can apply for health insurance through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Democratic governors urge Congress to avert ‘disastrous’ ObamaCare premium hike
The Hill – June 29, 2022
The letter from 14 Democratic governors to congressional leaders calls for extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies enacted last year as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) but which are currently set to expire at the end of this year. 

US places $3.2 billion order for updated COVID-19 vaccines for fall
The Hill – June 29, 2022
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that is paying $3.2 billion for 105 million doses of an updated Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for a fall campaign, pending Food and Drug Administration signoff on the new formula. 

Public health experts warn monkeypox response is too little, too late
Roll Call – June 30 2022
Lawmakers and administration officials have spent much of the past few years talking about "the next pandemic" and what the country will do when it comes. But now that monkeypox is spreading exponentially throughout the United States, public health officials agree on one thing — the government didn't move fast enough.

Senate drafts last-ditch drug pricing plan ahead of midterms
Roll Call – June 30, 2022
The drug pricing agreement builds on a plan negotiated by moderate Democrats in November, which would have required the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate prices within certain limits for up to 20 of the highest-cost drugs — plus insulin — in the Part B outpatient program and the Part D drug program.

Biden calls for filibuster carveout to protect abortion rights
The Hill – June 30, 2021
President Biden on Thursday said the Senate should carve out an exception to the 60-vote filibuster to codify abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the precedent set by Roe v. Wade.

Pfizer asks for full FDA approval of COVID pill
The Hill – June 30, 2022
Pfizer on Thursday announced it had submitted an application to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid for use in high-risk individuals.

Judge to temporarily block Florida’s 15-week abortion ban
The Hill – June 30, 2022
A judge on Thursday was set to temporarily block Florida’s 15-week abortion ban one day before it was set to go into effect. The law, which is not a “trigger law” like other states have set up to take immediate effect upon Roe v. Wade’s reversal, is modeled after Mississippi’s own 15-week abortion ban that was heard in front of the Supreme Court and ultimately led to the decision in Roe being overturned.

Title IX Proposal Would Add Protections for Pregnant Students
Inside Higher Ed – June 29, 2022
The Biden administration’s attempt to advance protections against sex-based discrimination and harassment on college campuses through a Title IX proposal came just 24 hours before the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion.

What Biden’s Title IX Rules Mean for Due Process
Inside Higher Ed – June 30, 2022
The long-awaited proposals for new Title IX regulations under the Biden administration were released last week, to mixed reactions. The proposals include changes to the way colleges investigate sexual assault, which has sparked concern and condemnation from civil liberties advocates.