The House and Senate were both in session this week, with the House officially convening for the second session of the 117th Congress. The Senate continued its work on nominations and teed up long-awaited votes on election and voting rights reforms. Rumblings have begun on more COVID relief funding, but it is not yet clear how much might support the health sector. The Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Administration’s vaccine mandate for employers but ruled that vaccine mandate for certain health care facilities is enforceable. Progress on Build Back Better (BBB) continues to be on hold in the Senate.

Congress

Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on COVID-19

On January 11, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing to discuss the federal government’s response to the ongoing pandemic and how to address new variants.

The Committee heard testimony from four key leaders in the Administration’s pandemic response efforts: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Dawn O’Connell.

The witnesses faced tough questions from both sides of the aisle on the Administration’s recent efforts related to access to testing, confusion surrounding evolving CDC...

Read Full Story: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/mcdermottplus-check-january-14-2022