Both chambers return to Washington, DC, today following the July 4 recess. There is limited time for legislating this month and before the November midterm election. The House is scheduled to be in session for only the next two weeks before the August recess, while the Senate is scheduled to be in through August 7. All of that is subject to change, particularly as the House Rules Committee has been at a standstill due to some conservative Republican members’ opposition to moving bills pursuant to a rule.
House Speaker Johnson (R-LA) aims to use this month to advance appropriations bills and continue discussion on a reconciliation 3.0 bill, but it is unclear if there will be consensus among Republicans on a reconciliation 3.0 bill, particularly given the limited in-session days left this year. A third reconciliation bill could include program integrity provisions that could have implications for federal healthcare programs.
While the House Rules Committee is at a standstill, the health committees will have an active week. The House Education and Workforce Committee will debate medical school education, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee will discuss biomedical innovation, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will examine the drug patent system. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Sean Kaufman to be US Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) assistant secretary for preparedness and response, and Erica Schwartz to be US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director. The hearing is likely to include discussion of HHS’s vaccine policy, given that the previous Senate-confirmed CDC director, Susan Monarez, was reported to be fired from her role for refusing to follow HHS Secretary Kennedy’s vaccine policies.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and Means Committee could also announce markups for this month focused on healthcare transparency legislation. The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee previously advanced health transparency bills by voice vote, and the bills have been going through the technical assistance process before being considered by the full committee. We also continue to await the release of the 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, which could be released as soon as Monday afternoon.
In this week’s Healthcare Preview, Rodney Whitlock and Debbie Curtis join Erin Fuller to discuss both chambers’ return from recess and what to watch for this week; including potential House healthcare markups, Senate HELP Committee nomination hearings, and growing congressional and stakeholder scrutiny of OMB’s proposed changes to federal grant rules.
