This Week in Congress

House and Senate

The Senate was in session this week.  The House was in recess.

Appropriations

The House Appropriators Committee is planning on marking up the first batch of five bills when subcommittee markups start later this month: Defense, Energy-Water, Homeland Security, Military Construction-VA and Legislative Branch. The tentative fiscal 2024 markup plans are subject to change, but the potential first batch of bills that Republican appropriators are vowing to protect from spending cuts are Defense and Military Construction-VA, and possibly NASA and border security. The bills in the first group may be the easiest to pass with Republican support, given that Defense and Military Construction-VA are expected to be generously funded. Subcommittee markups are set to start May 17 and 18 and June 7 and 8, while the full committee will hold markups May 23-25 and June 13-15. House appropriators are writing their bills to the FY’22 topline level of $1.47 trillion, which was laid out in the Republicans’ debt limit bill. This represents a $131 billion cut from the FY’23 topline spending level. Subcommittee leaders are expected to receive their subcommittee spending caps this week.  Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Susan Collins is warning that she does not believe that she and Appropriations Chair Patty Murray will be able to reach an FY’24 topline spending agreement before the debt limit bill is resolved.

Debt Ceiling

A meeting at the White House to discuss the debt is scheduled for May 9, with Speaker McCarthy, House Minority Leader Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader McConnell. Senate Majority Leader Schumer has his own bill that would suspend the debt limit through Dec. 31, 2024, but he stated that he’s holding off putting it on the floor until after he can assess the results of next week’s White House meeting. Senate Republicans are rallying behind Speaker McCarthy’s push to pair spending cuts with a debt limit increase, even as Democrats insist on a “clean” borrowing cap measure. More than a dozen Senate Republicans held a news conference this week to underscore their support for some variation of a House-passed bill. Republicans emphasized that they don’t plan to get on board with a short-term debt limit extension — especially one without concessions on spending reductions. The government may be unable to pay all its bills on time as soon as June 1, Treasury Secretary Yellen stated.

Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates

This week the Federal Reserve raised the short-term interest rate by another quarter-point as central bankers continue the fastest rate-hiking cycle in decades in response to inflation that is only finally starting to cool down. Chair Powell said that more rate increases will be decided on a “meeting by meeting” basis. Powell indicated that rate cuts, as many market participants are starting to expect given possible recession clouds gathering, may not come so soon, however. He pointed out that the 3.5 percent unemployment rate is roughly where it was before the Federal Reserve started to hike rates last year, and that the battle against inflation remains far from over.

Other Legislative Happenings from Around the Nation

CDC Director Walensky Resigns

On May 5, the White House announced the resignation of Rochelle Walensky, the Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Walensky will leave her post at the end of June. Walensky, who has served as CDC director since the beginning of the Biden presidency in 2021, “has saved lives with her steadfast and unwavering focus on the health of every American. She leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans,” President Biden said.

COVID-19

Vaccine Requirements End

The Biden administration has announced that it will end its COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees, federal contractors, international travelers, and people working at facilities certified by CMS on May 11, the same day the public health emergency expires. The mandate also covered some noncitizens at the border and Head Start educators. HHS and DHS are currently in the process of rolling back those requirements. The White House cited declining COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations over the past two years as reason for ending the vaccine requirement.

Shots for Kids

The FDA has authorized an additional dose of the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 6 months through 4 years with certain types of immunocompromise conditions who had previously been vaccinated with Pfizer’s shots. This came after CDC’s vaccine advisers urged FDA to reconsider its vaccine authorization for that group.

RSV Vaccine

The FDA has approved the first vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, though the approval comes with questions about safety and interactions with other common vaccines. The drug is designed for use in seniors aged 60 and older and should be available before the fall. The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee will meet to recommend parameters on the shot next month. The FDA is also expected to rule this month on a similar shot from Pfizer for use in seniors.

Contraceptives

New Yorkers next year won’t have to go through their doctors to get prescription contraceptives under a bill that Democrat Gov. Hochul signed into law as part of her administration’s efforts to expand reproductive rights in the state. Under the law that will take effect in November 2024, trained pharmacists will be able to distribute self-administered hormonal contraceptives including oral birth control pills, vaginal rings, and the patch, even if patients don’t have a prescription from their doctor or nurse practitioner.

Mpox

Over the next week or so, the WHO may declare a formal end to two long-running global health emergencies – the Mpox outbreak and COVID-19, after independent expert panels meet to assess whether these health events still merit being called Public Health Emergencies of International Concern. What the panels will recommend, and what WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will ultimately decide, remains to be seen.

Abortion

Mifepristone

A group of more than 250 congressional Democrats signed an amicus brief urging the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse its ruling to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which is currently paused as it goes through the appeals process. In their brief, the lawmakers argued that Congress granted the FDA authority to review and approve drugs and “did not invite federal courts to substitute their judgment for the expert conclusions of FDA’s scientists.”

California

California has joined with law firms and advocacy groups to create a hotline that provides access to information and pro bono services for people who need legal help related to abortion, as the state seeks to become a safe haven for reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The State Attorney General and officials with the Southern California Legal Alliance for Reproductive Justice made the announcement.

Illinois

Danville, Illinois banned the mailing or shipping of abortion pills, defying the state’s Democrat attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union, who have repeatedly warned that the move violates Illinois law’s protection of abortion as a fundamental right.

Michigan

Michigan Democrats continued efforts to protect abortion rights as the state Legislature advanced a bill that would outlaw companies from retaliating against employees for receiving abortions. The bill passed along party lines in the Michigan House after previously having been approved by the Senate in March. It would amend the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights act to prohibit employers from treating a worker differently for terminating a pregnancy.

North Carolina

The North Carolina lawmakers sent to the Governor a Republican package of abortion restrictions that would tighten the state’s ban on the procedure from after 20 weeks to after 12 weeks, while creating new exceptions but also more requirements for pregnant women and physicians.

Utah

A Utah state judge temporarily blocked a new law, one day before it was scheduled to take effect, that would have banned abortion clinics and potentially put a halt to most abortions in the state. Abortion is legal in Utah up to 18 weeks of pregnancy, and after that only in limited circumstances. But legislators have been trying in recent years to further restrict the procedure. A state law which would ban nearly all abortions is suspended while the Utah Supreme Court considers whether abortion is protected in the state’s constitution.

Transgender Health Care

Florida

The Florida legislature passed a bill making it a crime for transgender people to use public restrooms that align with their gender identity. Under the bill, known as the “Safety in Private Spaces Act,” individuals who use public restrooms or changing facilities that do not correspond with their sex assigned at birth could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.

Kentucky

Several families challenged Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youths, claiming the prohibition interferes with parental rights to seek established medical treatment for their children.

Maryland

Governor Moore signed a bill into law to protect abortion rights and expand Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming treatment in the heavily Democrat state.

Missouri

A Missouri judge has extended her order barring the enforcement of a unique rule pushed by Missouri’s Republican attorney general that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery.

Tennessee/Kansas/Montana

Lawmakers in Tennessee, Kansas and Montana have voted to narrowly define who is “female” and who is “male” in state law, using such terms as “gametes,” “ova,” “sex chromosomes,” “genitalia” and “immutable biological sex.” The bills in Montana and Tennessee have passed the legislature and are headed to governors’ desks. The Kansas bill, called the “women’s bill of rights,” was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, but the Republican legislature was able to override her veto.