Question unanswered
Will there be a year-end bill
Or punt it to March
The Rundown
- Debate continues on year-end bills and what comes next
- House committees find new leadership
- From our desks
- Join the Duke Health Advocacy Network!
Federal Updates
Time is running out for year-end bills and next year’s plans
Congress is currently dealing with a tug-of-war between the here and now and the later on. Both are important and both require delicate negotiations to come up with plans that have a chance of moving forward. But with short upcoming deadlines, any time spent on one reduces the amount of time and energy that can be put towards the other.
Starting with the here and now category, Congress is still working to finalize a deal on what it can accomplish before the end of the year. The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)? Already in the works. Government funding? Must get done and the only question is for how long. A healthcare package? Maybe?
On Wednesday, the House passed the annual NDAA bill, which formally authorizes broad programmatic and spending initiatives at the Department of Defense (DOD), including the Defense Health Program, which supports and funds DOD medical research, as well as the Defense-supported medical workforce. This vote marks the 64th straight year the House has passed the NDAA, highlighting one of the few remaining areas of bipartisan cooperation. The bill was not without some controversy however, as many House Democrats opposed a provision barring gender-affirming care for the children of military families. With passage in the House, the bill now moves to the Senate for consideration before the end of the year.
Also taking up time is the issue of government funding, which is slated to expire on December 20. There are a bunch of add-ons that have been mentioned in the negotiations recently, including a one-year extension of the farm bill, disaster relief, extending the Coast Guard’s authority, permitting reform, and an extension of several expiring health-care-related provisions. It remains to be seen which, if any, of these additional items will make the final cut, but everything that doesn’t get added on will have to be addressed next year. So the question for congressional leaders becomes is it easier to tackle them now or later on when other items will be dominating your time?
Speaking of later on, congressional Republicans are debating alternative strategies for advancing President-elect Donald Trump’s legislative program in the new year. On one side you have some of Trump’s domestic policy advisors and future Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) pushing for two budget reconciliation bills, one with a variety of domestic priorities early next year and a second package later with an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. On the other side, you have several House Republican Committee Chairs arguing for a single, massive reconciliation package with all the critical policies that Trump wants to sign into law. With a slim majority in the House next Congress, these debates will need to quickly be settled if congressional Republicans hope to hit the ground running in January.
More clarity on House committee leadership in the 119th Congress
This week, the House Steering Committee recommended Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) to be the next chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, taking over the gavel from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) who is retiring. Rep. Guthrie currently serves as the Chair of the Committee’s Health Subcommittee, a slot that will now need to be filled.
Following the announcement about his selection, Rep. Guthrie said, “I am honored to be chosen by my colleagues to serve as the next Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. I am humbled and excited to get to work next Congress to deliver on President Trump and House Republicans’ America First agenda. We must work together to restore America’s energy dominance and lower energy prices, protect children’s online safety and ensure America remains the world leader in technological innovation, and protect access to life-saving treatments while lowering health care costs. The task before us is significant, but together the House Energy and Commerce Committee will lead the way to restore the American Dream for hard-working families.”
From our desks
This week, our team met with congressional staff to advocate for Duke Health’s priorities in any year-end health package, as well as to discuss upcoming priorities for the new Congress in January.
Our team participated in the American Hospital Association’s Government Relations Officers Network (GRON) meeting, where we heard from AHA leadership and key Hill staff on policy issues impacting hospitals.
Join the Duke Health Advocacy Network!
Looking for more opportunities to connect with fellow advocates and professionals interested in public policy across the health system? Join the Duke Health Advocacy Teams Channel! We’re growing leaps and bounds and hope you’ll consider joining us!
Managed and moderated by Duke Health Government Relations and Duke State Relations, the purpose of the platform is for you to connect with your colleagues throughout the health system who are engaged and/or interested in public policy advocacy. We hope the channel will be used as a space for sharing ideas, collaboration, and engaging with the government relations teams on the issues most important to your work.
We encourage you to explore the channel, as we will post relevant news items, policy updates, questions, advocacy resources, and opportunities for engagement. As importantly, this is your space to do the same and to help grow the community.
Click to Join
(Note: This is only open to Duke Health employees. By joining this teams channel, you acknowledge that the platform and your participation are intended for information sharing and connections/relationship building and is not an inducement by Duke Health Government Relations and Duke State Relations, or the channel’s participants, to act as an unauthorized advocacy and/or lobbying representative of Duke Health or Duke University).