News From The Hill

The new Congress was sworn in on Friday, January 3^rd and convened to certify the election on Monday January 6^th. The broader government was suspended or working from home that week due to a blizzard and activities related to commemorating the life of former President Jimmy Carter. For the remainder of the month, the 119^th Congress worked quickly to realign committees with new members and begin organizing activities. The Senate worked to advance consideration of various nominees to head federal agencies and confirmed former Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State with a 99 – 0 vote. During the final week of January, the Senate is set to consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.to head the Department of Health and Human Services and the House is not in session.

Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47^th President for his second, non-consecutive term on January 20^th. He immediately signed a flurry of executive orders and, true to form, many were headline grabbing with dubious legal standing and potentially de minimis impact. Below, please find a summary of the most notable actions, which have already galvanized the advocacy community for further outreach (although specific efforts are still emerging):

• The administration issued a memo calling for a temporary pause on all grant funding and federal aid until agencies could conduct a review and ensure projects being supported align with the administration’s values. The memo is notably sparse on details and appears to violate foundational constitutional and legal elements regarding the separation of powers and the ability of Congress to direct tax dollars for federal purposes. Additional information can be found here.
• The administration issued a directive for HHS agencies to cease all external communications and travel, along with many internal activities (including grant review panels, grant submission portals, and Advisory Council activities at NIH) until February 1^st. Additional information can be found here.
• The administration issued a directive to address anything it considers to be associated with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). This has already impacted the ability to view public information on health equity and health disparities and disrupted many grants and supplements at NIH along with public health activities. Additional information can be found here, and the advocacy community (and I expect legal community) is already mobilizing to respond with congressional champions and further engagement with policymakers.
• The White House issued an Executive Order withdrawing from the World Health Organization citing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional information can be found here. The order initiates a 12-month withdraw process but potentially suspends financial contributions in the meantime (we will keep you posted as there will be further developments).
• The White House rescinded various Executive Orders too, including a Biden era initiative to study opportunities to lower drug prices. Additional information can be found here.

The new administration announced that Dr. Matthew Memoli would serve as Acting NIH Director until a new Director can be confirmed.

By: Dane Christiansen, Washington Representative