This Week in Washington: President Biden and Speaker Pelosi Open to Moving Pieces of the Build Back Better Act

The House has a district work period this week.

House

Rep. Brady Announces Updated Ways and Means Subcommittee Assignments

On Jan. 19, the Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-TX) released updated subcommittee assignments for the 117th Congress. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is the new ranking member of the Health Subcommittee and Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) will be joining the Ways and Means Committee and will sit on the Health Subcommittee.

The announcement with the full list of subcommittee assignments can be found here.

Senate

Republican Finance Committee Members Voice Their Opposition to Build Back Better Act’s Drug Pricing Measures

On Jan. 20, a group of 14 Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) wrote a letter to their Senate colleagues voicing their opposition to the drug pricing measures in the House-passed Build Back Better Act. In the letter, the senators state that the drug pricing measures in the bill would undermine innovation and cause workforce disruptions.

The letter can be found here.

Republican Senators Call for Interim Final Rule Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations to be Withdrawn

On Jan. 20, a group of 17 Republican senators wrote to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing their concern with the Nov. 30 interim final rule that established vaccine and mask mandates in Head Starts and Early Head Start programs. The letter states that other COVID-19 precautions are being taken in these facilities, some district courts have granted injunctions against the final rule and the rule was made without any feedback from Head Start programs. Given these concerns, the senators request that the interim final rule be withdrawn.

The letter can be found here.

Read more on healthcare policy in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Washington Healthcare Update.