This Week in Congress

House

The House was not session this week because without a Speaker the House cannot conduct any business, including approving new aid to Israel, until a new speaker is in place.

Senate

The Senate was not in session this week and will return on Oct. 16.

Speaker of the House Election

October 11

The House Republican Conference, after a week of closed-door meetings, selected Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) to be its official nominee. Scalise defeated Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), by a secret ballot vote of 113-99.

October 12

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise later withdrew his name for speaker after a group of GOP holdouts refused to support him. Scalise’s withdrawal leaves Republicans without a GOP nominee for the speakership. Scalise stated “It was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs — this country is counting on us. But there’s some folks that really need to look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide are we going to get it back on track or are they going to try to pursue their own agenda?”  Scalise said he will remain in his role as House majority leader, and he has no plans to endorse another speaker candidate at this time. Whoever the nominee is for speaker, it will require 217 votes in the House to win the gavel.

October 13

The Republican Conference will continue to hold meetings to continue to try and agree on a nomination for speaker. As of this writing, Rep. Jim Jordan is the front runner for the job, but he has yet to secure the required 217 votes. Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry could be given additional duties for the next 30-90 days, to oversee legislative business, including appropriations bills, but a number of Republicans object to that idea because they want an “empowered, formally elected speaker when it comes to issues like negotiating spending levels with the Senate.”

Federal Happenings

Supplemental Aid to Israel and Ukraine

This week, President Biden met with House members on Israel aid and also discussed his plans to seek funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Southern border. The White House has not sent a formal request to Congress at this time and is waiting for a new speaker to be in place before transmitting the request.

NIH Director Nomination

The Senate HELP committee has scheduled a hearing (October 18, 10:00 AM) on the nomination of Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the next NIH Director.

Capitol Security

Security fencing has been erected around the US Capitol. As the war between Hamas and Israel continues, US Capitol Police and law enforcement departments across the U.S. are on high alert. The increase in security is a result of reports that former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a “global day of Jihad,” around the world and additional protests. The Department of Homeland Security is also monitoring events as they unfold, urging faith and community leaders to be alert, vigilant and prepared.

Other Happenings from Around the Nation

Abortion

Mifepristone

Independent pharmacies have quietly started  dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone under new rules implemented by the Biden administration earlier this year. Thousands of branches of major pharmacy chains are set to follow suit, making the drugs more accessible to millions of people nationwide. The rollout has been slower and more limited than abortion-rights supporters had hoped, but it has the potential to significantly alter the abortion access landscape. This move has ignited a new phase of the legal and political battle over abortion, as anti-abortion groups have pledged to protest and boycott pharmacies that dispense the pills. Many pharmacies that distribute mifepristone are cautious about publicizing this service to prevent lawsuits and maintain their ability to offer access. The Biden administration and Danco, the manufacturer of mifepristone, recently jointly filed an appeal with the Supreme Court seeking to reverse a lower court decision that could prohibit both pharmacy dispensing and mail delivery of mifepristone. The Supreme Court is expected to consider the case in either 2024 or 2025.

Florida

Advocates are making headway on a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring abortion rights. The Florida Division of Elections website showed 402,082 valid signatures for the proposal, which the political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom is trying to put on the November 2024 ballot.

Idaho

A federal appeals court has temporarily limited Idaho’s ability to enforce its near-total abortion ban in medical emergencies while it weighs in on a legal challenge to the ban by the Biden administration. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month allowed the state to enforce its ban, reversing a lower court order that had partially blocked it. This week, however, the full 9th Circuit said it would rehear the case with 11 of its judges, automatically voiding the panel’s order for now.

North Carolina

The number of abortions performed in North Carolina fell 31% the month after the state implemented a 12-week ban, and required in-person counseling before the procedure, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The ban, which took effect July 1, changed the landscape in one of the South’s last havens for women seeking abortions.

Ohio

A ballot measure in Ohio that would guarantee access to abortion rights is fueling misleading claims about how the proposal could influence abortion care, gender-related health care, and parental consent in the state.

Utah

In 2021, there were 3,129 abortions in Utah, 2,978 of which were provided to Utah residents. When asked the reason for terminating their pregnancy, with nine reasons to choose from, approximately half of people seeking an abortion told their doctor it was for socioeconomic reasons — they couldn’t afford to go through with giving birth and caring for a child.

LBGTQ

October 11 – National Coming Out Day (NCOD)

NCOD is often seen as a mainstream, social-media-focused event, but its origins 35 years ago lie in a desperate push for more visibility as tens of thousands of people were dying in part because of government inaction. NCOD was started in 1988 by Jean O’Leary, a lesbian, and Robert Eichberg, a gay man, on the theory that LGBTQ+ people were so ostracized from society and that AIDS was not a priority — partly because most people didn’t realize their own brothers, friends, uncles, and colleagues were gay.

North Carolina

Two national LGBTQ rights groups, a North Carolina doctor and a family with a transgender child are challenging a new North Carolina law preventing transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming health care. The coalition argues in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that the law discriminates on the basis of gender identity and infringes on the right of parents to make medical decisions on behalf of their children.

COVID-19

Vaccine Availability

Weeks after the approval of updated COVID vaccines, community health centers across the country say they are still waiting on their doses to arrive. The delays are preventing many vulnerable adults and children from getting vaccinated ahead of a potential winter wave. Patients are reporting that they are still having difficulty finding appointments for themselves and their children. Shot seekers also say they have been surprised by requests for upfront payments of $150 to $200 now that the U.S. government has handed off to private companies including vaccine makers, pharmacies, and insurance plans to handle distribution, administration, and payment coverage.

New Novavax Vaccine

This week Novavax said it has shipped millions of doses its updated COVID-19 shots to distributors after receiving the go-ahead from U.S. regulators. The FDA authorized the updated vaccine last week for emergency use in individuals aged 12 years and older.

Side Effects

A new study has an encouraging message for Americans who shy away from COVID shots because of worries about side effects: The chills, fatigue, headache, and malaise that can follow vaccination may be signs of a vigorous immune response. People who had those side effects after the second dose of a COVID vaccine had more antibodies against the coronavirus at one month and six months after the shot, compared with those who did not have symptoms, according to the new study. Increases in skin temperature and heart rate also signaled higher antibody levels.

Masking

Patients at Cleveland Clinic hospitals may soon be seeing a little bit less of their doctors – their faces, that is. The hospital system has requested that caregivers and visitors on inpatient floors of its Ohio hospitals return to masking, beginning next week.

RSV Vaccine

A big complication right now is the cost – at nearly $500 a dose. While the shot is expected to be covered by most insurance plans, providers need to order the shot before knowing how much they’ll be reimbursed. That’s created a lot of frustration. Some physicians are expressing anger because it feels like “we have an opportunity that may be missed.” This summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged federal leaders to provide support so the shots can be administered widely and equitably.

340B

On October 12, CMS announced 2024 Part B standard premiums would increase about $10 a month compared to 2023 and deductibles would go up about $14, due in part to projected increases in health spending and the agency’s plan to repay 340B hospitals $9 billion for cuts the Supreme Court had deemed unlawful as well as broader access to Alzheimer’s drugs in Medicare.