This Week in Congress

House and Senate

The House and Senate returned this week with a lot on their plate.  Work must be completed all the 12 appropriations bills, action on the National Defense Authorization bill, elections for House and Senate leadership posts, and organizational rules for the next Congress.

Appropriations

This week Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, House Minority Leader McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader McConnell met with President Biden to discuss a way forward to complete action on the FY’23 omnibus appropriations bill.  After the meeting, House and Senate leadership met again to discuss top-line spending for FY’23. Both parties have been trading offers totaling around $1.6 trillion, but there is still no agreement on how the funds will be divided between domestic and defense spending. Negotiations are expected to continue next week.

Defense of Marriage Act

This week, the Senate passed the Defense of Marriage Act.  The House is expected to pass the legislation next week and send it to the President for signature.

Rail Strike Averted

The House and Senate passed a resolution to avert a railroad strike. The bill forces unions to accept a tentative agreement reached earlier this year between railroad managers and their workers and make an imminent strike illegal.  The President is expected to sign the bill in the next few days.

National Defense Authorization Act

The House and Senate conferees on the NDAA have reached an agreement on the FY’23 NDAA.  It is expected to include a $45 billion increase over Biden’s defense budget request, the same as the Senate Armed Services Committee bill and would authorize a total of $847 billion for national defense for FY’23. The House hopes to vote on the bill next week.

House Calendar for 2023

Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., expected to be majority leader in the next Congress, released the chamber’s 2023 legislative calendar. The calendar can be found here:

Other Legislation and Happenings Around the Nation

Apps to Help Curb STIs

Public health nurses find that dating apps are the most efficient way to inform users that people they previously met on the sites may have exposed them to sexually transmitted infections. The article can be found here

Monkeypox

The World Health Organization said it will phase out the name of the disease monkeypox over the next year, replacing it with the term mpox. The decision follows widespread calls for changing the name since the current international outbreak of the disease was first detected last May.

The Biden administration is eyeing an end to its public health emergency declaration for mpox, a sign that officials believe they’ve brought the months long outbreak under control. Health officials are likely to issue a 60-day notice later this week for winding down the declaration.

*Africa’s top public health body says the continent is set to receive its first batch of mpox vaccines as a donation from South Korea. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday the 50,000 doses will be used first for health workers and people living in the hardest-hit areas. No timing was given for the doses’ arrival.

HIV/AIDS

Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

HIV patient advocates say Congress needs to set aside $6 billion over 10 years for a national program to cover the costs of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV and associated services in order to meet the Biden administration’s goal of prescribing PrEP to 50% of the eligible population. The figure is $3 billion less than the administration seeks for the 10-year effort.

World AIDS Day

The HIV Medicine Association has released a statement in honor of World AIDS Day today. The statement focuses on the importance of addressing inequities in access to HIV treatment and prevention resources. The statement can be found here!

HHS Allows Those Living With Hep B, HIV To Join Public Service

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday announced it will be expanding eligibility for the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to include people who have chronic hepatitis B and HIV.