This Week in Congress

House and Senate

Both Houses of Congress were in session this week and continued work on the FY’24 appropriations bills as well as negotiations on a continuing resolution.

Appropriations

Continuing Resolution

As the clock ticks down to the end of the fiscal year at midnight Saturday, September 30, a deal to avert a government shutdown is highly unlikely. Speaker McCarthy wants to make the approaching shutdown about the surge of migrants coming across the southern border, but the House one-month CR with a 27% cut to domestic spending and asylum law changes still lacks the votes to pass the House. In the Senate bipartisan support for a Senate CR is showing signs of collapse as Republicans push for more border security funding. Senate Minority Whip Thune said Republicans are working on an “amendment strategy” that would add border security money to garner votes for passage of the Senate CR. The US has weathered plenty of previous shutdowns (14 since 1980).

The White House Government Shutdown Contingency Plan can be found here

An article on what a shutdown would mean can be found here

Federal Happenings

HHS Proposes Rule To Protect LGBTQ Foster Kids

This week the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would require states’ child welfare agencies to train foster parents in providing for LGBTQ children in their care. The proposal, part of a slate of actions the Biden administration took to expand the child welfare system, follows an executive order signed last year amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ state laws.

RSV Vaccine

A federal advisory panel recommended that expectant mothers get an RSV vaccine to protect their newborns from the potentially deadly respiratory disease. The vaccine is recommended for people who are between 32 and 36 weeks pregnant and who will give birth during the fall and winter, when RSV cases usually spike. The maternal RSV vaccine represents the latest tool health-care providers have to safeguard infants during their most vulnerable stage, right after birth, when their immune systems are still developing.

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

The deadline to reauthorize an HIV/AIDS program will expire when the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2023. While much of the law is permanent, eight key provisions within PEPFAR will end. House and Senate leaders are no closer to compromise on reauthorizing the bill. House members are still pushing to attach an anti-abortion rider to a one-year extension, while acting Senate Foreign Relations Chair Cardin is calling for a clean, five-year reauthorization.

Other Happenings from Around the Nation

Abortion

Connecticut/Massachusetts/New Hampshire

With reproductive freedoms at risk across the U.S., abortion rights activists announced that Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire will form the nation’s first regional model for reproductive health care advocacy. Pro-Choice Connecticut will sunset this month to join Massachusetts-based Reproductive Equity Now as it expands into Connecticut and New Hampshire,

Wisconsin

A coalition of anti-abortion organizations demanded that prosecutors in Wisconsin’s two largest counties bring charges against abortion providers who have resumed practicing following a court ruling that consensual abortions are legal in the state. Wisconsin Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action and Pro-Life Wisconsin call for Dane County District Attorney and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to prosecute abortion providers in their counties.

LBGTQ

California

Governor Newsom has vetoed a bill that would instruct judges presiding over custody battles in the state to take into consideration a parent’s support for a child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions. The veto signals a break from the governor’s stance in support of transgender rights. In a letter accompanying his veto Newsom said that while he shares “a deep commitment” to advancing transgender rights, he urged caution about making legal standards “in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic.”

Missouri

Missouri Attorney General Bailey filed a lawsuit against a healthcare company after it provided puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors without a mental health assessment, as required by state law before sex reassignments were banned. On Aug. 28, Missouri’s Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act was implemented as law in the state. After the law was passed, Bailey’s office sent a letter to providers across Missouri, warning them to stop providing experimental treatment immediately.

Montana

A Montana judge blocked enforcement of the state’s recently enacted ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, marking the latest ruling nationally in battles over state restrictions on treatments for transgender youth. A Missoula County District Judge ruled that the law likely discriminated based on minors’ transgender status and infringed on their privacy rights in violation of Montana’s constitution.

COVID-19

Vaccines

A recent poll found that 23% of adults in the U.S. will “definitely” get the new covid vaccine, while another 23% say they will “probably” do so. A stark political divide emerges in the data: 69% of Democrats, in contrast to 25% of Republicans, fall into those categories.

Rollout

A group of health insurers told the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services they were fixing issues that have delayed the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines and are ready to address any others that develop. “At this time, we understand that systemic technical issues have been largely, if not completely, resolved and are not limiting patient access to vaccines,” representatives for many U.S. health plans wrote in a letter to HHS.

Timing

“Some people are saying, ‘Well, could I get RSV, COVID and the flu vaccine on the same day?’ Yes, indeed, you could. But honestly, I might not,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Spacing out the shots by around two weeks could “minimize the chance of interactions, and minimize confusing side effects from one with another,” he said. They might be a good option for people who did not mind multiple trips to the pharmacy or their doctor’s office.

What to Know About Paxlovid

Paxlovid lowers the amount of virus in the body. Research has shown that it is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization or death — but only for those who are already at higher risk of severe illness from Covid because they are older or have underlying health conditions. Plus, there are potential downsides: Paxlovid can clash with many medications, and it can cause some side effects, including a particularly weird one. The article can be found here.

School Closings

Education Secretary Cardona says schools should not be shutting down due to surges in COVID-19 and expressed worry about government overreach. “I worry about government overreach, sending down edicts that will lead to school closures because either folks are afraid to go in or are infected and can’t go,” Cardona said that “Despite the new wave of COVID-19 cases — schools should be open, period.”

Los Angeles Unified School District

Two years ago, the L.A. Unified School District set a high bar for COVID safety, telling employees: Get vaccinated or lose your job. That vaccine mandate — which achieved a 99% compliance rate among teachers — ended this week following a 6-1 vote by the Board of Education. The nation’s second-largest school system — widely viewed as a national pacesetter in strong COVID-19 safety measures early in the pandemic emergency — had been among the last public-school systems to continue a mandate.