WILL WE EVER SEE “PRECEDENTED TIMES” AGAIN? If the last month, if not the last several years, has felt like emotional-political whiplash, it is for good reason. We’ve witnessed the US Supreme Court issue landmark rulings,...more
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Medical Debt. The hearing examined the negative impacts of medical debt and explored potential solutions to address the growing issue. Senators and witnesses highlighted the disparity...more
Three Congressmen in the United States House of Representatives have introduced H.R. 8204 which is denominated the: Regulatory Early Notice and Engagement Act. (“Legislation”). ...more
House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Value-Based Care. The hearing examined the challenges and opportunities associated with delivering better health outcomes and Medicare savings through value-based care....more
Congress is back in session this week, with the House in today and the Senate returning tomorrow. They are back for a four-week stretch until the Memorial Day recess break. Congress has already moved many of the major bills...more
CONGRESS AWAY, ADMINISTRATION STILL IN PLAY - Congress is mostly in recess this week, with the exception of the Senate returning on Tuesday, April 23, to consider the House-passed foreign aid package. Thus there are no...more
Neil deGrasse Tyson routinely reminds us that January 1 is “a cosmically arbitrary event, carrying no Astronomical significance,” and that bodes well for Congress, whose new year is just getting started. Sure, it’s...more
Senate HELP Committee Holds Field Hearing on Private Equity. In the hearing, held at the Massachusetts State House, members discussed the impact of private equity ownership on patients, providers, quality of care and...more
Appropriations Update. On March 20, Congress released bill text for the second (and final) tranche of fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, which include: Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS,...more
CONGRESS BUYS MORE TIME - Last Friday President Biden signed a short-term funding patch. This extends government funding through a continuing resolution (CR) into March. Specifically, this CR gives Congress until March 1...more
The Senate is back in session today, and the House comes back tomorrow. The beginning of 2024 is looking a lot like the end of 2023, with the big factor being the need to address government funding for fiscal year (FY) 2024....more
Two-Week Stretch Before Holiday Recess - Congress only has two weeks left in session for the rest of year. There is a lot to accomplish in those two weeks. While government funding has been punted into early 2024, Congress is...more
A few weeks ago, Regs & Eggs discussed the constant give and take between federal agencies and Congress as they both work on overlapping policies and objectives. The major regs released last week provide an excellent example...more
The House of Representatives has now been without a speaker for 20 days. Last week, Rep. Jordan (R-OH) dropped out of the speaker race after an internal Republican Conference vote showed he had no path to victory. This week,...more
CONGRESS - House Republicans Still Unable to Elect New Speaker. As of publication of this newsletter, the House has held three roll call votes this week to elect a new speaker, with Rep. Jordan (R-OH) failing all three...more
Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session....more
ALL EYES ON THE HOUSE - The Senate is in its planned recess this week. The House is in recess until notified. With a successful motion to vacate the speaker on October 3, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is currently...more
Heading into the August Recess - This is the last week in session before Congress goes out for a six-week August recess. Before that, Congress is typically in a mad dash to advance bills. However, this year we are in a...more
The House and Senate returned from recess, beginning a three-week sprint toward the August break. The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup of a bipartisan healthcare package of four bills. The House...more
The summer season has arrived in Washington and things are heating up in the halls of Congress. A number of high priority legislative proposals ranging from health care to appropriations to patent reform to defense...more
The House of Representatives has adopted a series of rules changes for the 116th Congress to implement a reform package that House Democrats developed after recapturing the House majority in the November 2018 midterm...more
As many predicted, Democrats recaptured the House for the first time in eight years in yesterday’s midterm elections, while Republicans retained and strengthened their grip on the Senate. That will lead to a dynamic in...more
In this episode, Akin Gump congressional investigations practice co-heads Rafi Prober and Steve Ross look at the history of Hill investigations and how the midterm elections may change their emphasis and targets. Among the...more