Health and Human Services Secretary Nomination

This week, the nomination of Representative Tom Price (R-GA)  to lead the Department of Health and Human Services was advanced by the Senate Finance Committee.  Democrats boycotted the hearing, at which the Committee temporarily disabled a committee rule that required at least one member of both parties be present for votes.  Dr. Price’s nomination was then approved by the Finance committee to proceed to the full Senate for confirmation.

Affordable Care Act Repeal

An article released this week outlined some shifting priorities in Congress from a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to repairing the existing law to address concerns.  This article highlights the current legislative challenges to replacing the ACA, as outlined in a previous NCSD Federal Policy Update.  Congress has set up a process called Budget Reconciliation with which they hope to replace the ACA, as reconciliation legislation cannot be filibustered in the Senate.  However, reconciliation cannot repeal all of the ACA, as it can only include activities that impact the federal budget (how much the government spends and taxes people, for example).  Reconciliation cannot impact other aspects of the ACA, like changes to who is eligible for health insurance coverage.

Balanced Budget

The President this week seemed to walk away from previous statements for supporting a balanced budget, stating that the country has deep needs (particularly regarding military spending, infrastructure and protecting Social Security and Medicare) and that a balanced budget, while important, should come behind those needs.  How this impacts work within Congress is currently unclear.  Congress has a long history of a desire for balanced budgets and needing to off-set any increased spending with reductions in spending elsewhere in the federal budget.