This week in Washington: Congress passes continuing resolution, funding the government until Feb. 18.
House
Reps. McMorris Rodgers and Comer Request Information on Biden Administration Compliance With COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
On Nov. 23, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (D-WA-5) and James Comer (R-KY-1) wrote to the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young requesting an update on the Biden administration’s compliance with recent COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees.
The full letter can be found here.
Senate
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Fund Government Until Feb. 18
On Dec. 2, the House and Senate voted to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government until Feb. 18, averting a government shutdown in the short term. Congress will need to adopt another measure to fund the government from Feb. 18 until the end of fiscal year 2022. The CR does not include any measures to mitigate the Medicare sequester cuts that are set to return on Jan. 1.
Sens. Tuberville and Burr Request Information on Monoclonal Antibody Contracts
On Nov. 23, Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Richard Burr (R-NC) wrote three letters requesting additional information regarding the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) and Department of Defense’s (DOD) decision to grant a $142 million contract to KPMG to promote monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment. The letters were addressed to the DOD’s Acting Undersecretary of Defense Gregory Kausner, KPMG’s S. Lawrence Kocot and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and raised concerns about the administration’s cancelling existing mAb contracts and KPMG’s public outreach campaign.
The full letter can be found here.
Read more on healthcare policy in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Washington Healthcare Update.