Congress is back in town and has a lot on its plate. Members left for the 2-week scheduled work period without fully funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and while they were away, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request, which his cabinet will now need to justify. So, let’s get into it. Welcome to the Week Ahead!
The Administration
Not wanting to be left out of the podcast trend, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. has announced that the first episode of his podcast, aptly named “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast,” will premiere this week. Kennedy will host discussions with doctors, scientists, and HHS staff to begin “a new era of radical transparency in government.” The podcast will act as another tool for the administration to spread the message of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement ahead of the midterms, which is crucial as President Trump looks for wins to highlight.
Secretary Kennedy has also been busy working on his vaccine priorities through changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) charter. The changes are designed to expand the fields from which the Secretary of HHS can draw from when appointing ACIP members, including those who are knowledgeable in the field of “recovery from serious vaccine injuries.” The charter also adds several vaccine skeptic organizations to the list of organizations that supply non-voting liaison representatives to the Committee. Richard Hughes, an attorney who represented the groups that successfully halted Kennedy’s previous attempt to remake ACIP, commented that “the purposes (of the document) are likely two-fold — attempting to create the appearance of conformity to legal challenges while laying the groundwork for furthering an anti-vaccine agenda.”
The Senate
As the House considers the DHS funding bill, minus funding for immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Senate is looking at ways to maneuver ICE and CBP funding through. President Trump agreed with plans to move forward with a plan to finish DHS funding through reconciliation after meeting with Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, on April 10. Our conversations on the Hill support the idea that this second reconciliation bill would focus exclusively on ICE/CPB funding. This will certainly raise questions for the Senate parliamentarian, who will have to decide if the Senate can use reconciliation for funding normally passed through the annual appropriations process. Our conversations also indicate that a desire to keep this reconciliation bill focused on ICE and CBP could push any other potential items into a third reconciliation bill.
It is the last full week for Senators to submit appropriations requests for consideration by the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee as the deadline for submission is April 21.
Health Care Hearings This Week
- April 16: Senate Budget Committee hearing to examine the Presidents FY27 budget proposal with Office of Management and Budget Director Vought
- April 16: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine lowering drug costs
The House
The House is kicking off consideration of the President’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal and will be hosting multiple cabinet members throughout the week. HHS Secretary Kennedy, for his part, will appear before the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee and the House Ways and Means Committee on April 16. Sec. Kennedy will be likely be facing questions about the large cuts to HHS, especially the National Institutes of Health. We also expect Democratic members to take advantage of the opportunity to hit the administration on everything from vaccines to Medicaid cuts.
Public health legislation will be the focus of a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on April 15. Bills being discussed include reauthorizing funding for research related to areas including tick-borne diseases, school-based health centers, stem cell therapeutics, and others. The hearing will also cover legislation to expand services offered at community health centers, require HHS publication of physical fitness recommendations, and establish rules related to the regulation of general wellness products. This hearing is the first step in moving these bills through committee and onto the floor. Those bills that pass and that are bipartisan would be likely targets for inclusion in a potential health care package later in the year.
Other Health Care Hearings This Week
- April 14: House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee field hearing on modernized health care in practice
- April 17: House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on HHS Policies and Priorities
There You Have It
Congratulations to the Artemis II crew for successfully completing their mission around the moon, the first trip towards the moon for humans in over 50 years, and for setting a new record for farthest distance ever traveled from Earth. Did you watch the splashdown? Let us know. Make it a great week!