This Week in Congress

Senate

This week the Senate voted on moving forward a number of President Biden’s agency and judicial nominations.

House

Voting in the House was stalled this week as members of the Freedom Caucus derailed leadership’s plans to vote on several bills. Caucus members are exercising their power in order to show their frustration over the debt ceiling deal that Speaker McCarthy negotiated with President Biden. The delayed bills would limit executive branch power, including on the issue of regulating gas stoves, but those bills will more than likely never be taken up by the Senate. The rare turn of events could signal a new reality in the House that would shape how, and if major bills get done. There’s also the possibility that in trying to break the logjam McCarthy agrees to conservative member demands for lower spending caps than Congress agreed to in the debt limit law.

Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA)

On June 3, President Biden signed the FRA that suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default. The package takes away some unspent pandemic aid, redirects a portion of IRS funding for other uses, streamlines energy permitting, ends a pause on student loan repayments and requires more work requirements for certain recipients of food stamps and cash assistance. A summary of the legislation can be found here

Disease Intervention Specialists Funding

As of this writing there continues to be confusion as to whether the FRA rescinds (cuts) the remaining $400 million available for the next two years for disease intervention specialists/contact tracers that was appropriated in the American Rescue Plan Act. If the FRA cuts the remaining $400 million appropriated for years 4 and 5, it will NOT impact years 1 through 3 of the DIS funding that has already been distributed to jurisdictions.

Appropriations

House appropriators plan full committee markups next week for the four bills already reported out of subcommittee. The bills include: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; Homeland Security; Legislative Branch; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs. Senate Appropriations Committee leaders may start markups the week of June 19.

Other Legislative Happenings from Around the Nation

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Implementation Plan

This week the Biden administration issued its new multiagency plan to address rising rates of STI, but experts see possible legislative and judicial hurdles that could thwart that effort. The plan directs five departments and 15 agencies to implement more than 200 steps by 2030, and comes as rates of the most common STIs have reached record highs for eight years. Public health advocates worry the debt limit law and caps on domestic appropriations would limit the funding increases needed to ramp up research or the workforce. The document itself acknowledges that funding could present issues. The plan can be found here

NCSD Director Harvey Comments

NCSD Directors Executive Director David Harvey, speaking ahead of the plan release, warned the debt agreement would likely limit the ability to implement the coming plan. “This will affect the brand new STI implementation plan that calls for a whole of government approach to fighting an out-of-control STI epidemic,” he said. “We have a new plan. We had some new funding, and now it’s being pulled back at the very moment that we were seeing some forward momentum and progress on combating these epidemics.” The article can be found here

White House LGBTQ Initiatives

President Biden announced new federal efforts designed to counter state and local laws targeting the LGBTQ community and book bans. He also will hold a Pride Month celebration Saturday on the White House south lawn. The Department of Homeland Security will undertake a new program that offers safety training to LGBTQ community centers that have come under increasing threat, while the Department of Health and Human Services will distribute new guidance to mental health providers on how to best treat transgender youth. HHS will also release regulations allowing states to use federal funds for dedicated programs to benefit the LGBTQ community, and federal housing authorities will make available resources to address homelessness among LGBTQ youth. The Department of Education will name a new coordinator charged with creating training for school boards and administrators — warning that book bans could violate federal civil rights laws.  “We’re seeing a disturbing surge in violent threats against LGBTQ community organizations in too many parts of our country,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said in a press call announcing the actions. “LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination.”

LGBTQ+ Rights

The volume of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation “is record-shattering,” said Cathryn Oakley, the Human Rights Campaign’s state legislative director and senior counsel. “It is a really scary time for LGBTQ people, and I am not certain everyone understands quite how scary it really is,” Oakley said. Republican-controlled state governments, including those in Texas, Florida and Tennessee, are at the forefront of the movement against LGBTQ+ rights, the HRC said, calling out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in particular for “criss-crossing the country to attack our community.” The article can be found here

ACA’s Provision for HIV Drugs

A judge’s order that would eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s requirements that health insurers offer cost-free coverage of HIV-preventing drugs, cancer screenings, and other preventive care should remain on hold while it is appealed, Biden administration lawyer Klein argued before an appellate panel in New Orleans. In response, lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, arguing for Obamacare’s challengers, said insurers and employers would be unlikely to drop preventive coverage, but Judge Southwick called that “speculation.” The appeal stems from a March ruling by U.S. District Judge O’Connor on coverage requirements inspired by U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations. O’Connor ruled that because the task force is made up of volunteers, enforcing its recommendations violates the Constitution’s Appointment Clause dictating how government officials can be appointed. An immediate decision by the appeals court was not expected.

Mpox

As many as 78 percent of Black Americans eligible for mpox protection via the Jynneos vaccine have not been vaccinated, according to a new shortfall analysis published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). A second MMWR report delves into mpox transmission risks to kids, noting that some adults did not begin to isolate until after they had received a diagnosis. The article can be found here

Supreme Court Ruling on the Voting Rights Act

The US Supreme Court rejected a Republican-drawn congressional map in Alabama and upheld a decision that requires a second majority Black district. The 5-4 decision comes from a court that twice in the last decade has significantly cut back the landmark law, enacted in 1965 to protect minority rights at the polls. Democrats and civil rights activists said the Voting Rights Act required a second heavily Black district in Alabama, a state with seven US congressional seats and a 27% Black population. Republicans and their allies were seeking to give lawmakers more leeway to draw maps without considering the impact on racial minorities. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s liberals in the majority.

Abortion

Indiana

Hundreds of Indiana doctors are coming to the defense of Caitlin Bernard, the obstetrician/gynecologist who was recently punished by a state licensing board for talking publicly about providing an abortion for a 10-year-old rape victim. In public statements, doctors across a range of specialties are speaking out against the board’s decision, and warning that it could have dangerous implications for public health.

Maryland

A Maryland board approved an emergency procurement of more than $1 million to pay for a stockpile of a widely used abortion pill Mifepristone due to uncertainty surrounding legal challenges against the drug’s use. The Board of Public Works approved the funds to pay for 35,000 doses that would last several years, if necessary. The stockpile, acquired in April, includes 30,000 doses of mifepristone and 5,000 doses of misoprostol. The spending panel is comprised of Gov. Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis.

Transgender Care

Missouri

Transgender minors and some adults in Missouri will soon be limited from accessing puberty blockers, hormones, and gender-affirming surgeries — as well as some school sports teams — under bills signed this week by the state’s Republican governor. Beginning Aug. 28, Missouri health care providers won’t be able to prescribe those gender-affirming treatments for teens and children. Most adults will still have access to transgender health care under the law, but Medicaid won’t cover it. Prisoners in the state must pay for gender-affirming surgeries out-of-pocket under the law, the governor’s spokesperson Kelli Jones said.

Florida

A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law championed by Governor DeSantis that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, saying in the ruling that gender identity is real and the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction, saying three transgender children can continue receiving treatment. “Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear,” Hinkle said, adding that even a witness for the state agreed.

Texas

Governor Abbot signed legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors, making Texas the most populus state to ban such care. Texas joined at least 18 other states that have enacted similar bans. Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately. Lawsuits have been filed in several states where bans have been enacted this year.