On March 23, the FY 2018 Omnibus was signed into law. The CDC received an $806 million increase to $8.3 billion; NIH received a $3 billion increase to $37 billion; and USAID global health funding was level for the most part. Recently, President Trump has been rumored to be considering using an archaic and little-used parliamentary tool, known as a Presidential Rescission, to institute proposed funding cuts that did not make it into the FY 2018 omnibus. A rescission is a request from the President to cut funding levels for certain programs, requiring only a congressional majority for passage. However, passage in the Senate would be difficult given Republican’s slim 51-49 majority.
The FY 2019 Appropriations process continues to progress. On April 11, a House Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on the NIH Budget, featuring testimony from Director Dr. Francis Collins. The hearing did not focus to a great extent on global health.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has announced that he will not seek another term in Congress. Ryan plans to serve out the remainder of his term to January. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) have reportedly begun jockeying for position to replace Ryan as Speaker.
Kenneth Staley, MD, MPA, was named the new Global Malaria Coordinator with the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). Dr. Staley received his medical degree from the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and his Master of Public Administration degree from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is an honors graduate of Washington University in Saint Louis. Dr. Staley previously served in the George W. Bush administration as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Counterproliferation, and as Director for Biodefense Policy at the White House Homeland Security Council.
USAID Administrator Mark Green has proposed a major restructuring of the U.S. Agency for International Development, including changes to humanitarian assistance, technological innovation, and how the agency manages its budget and policy. The proposal would realign USAID’s humanitarian, crisis and conflict-related work under a new associate administrator for relief, resilience and response, who would oversee the work of three different bureaus.
On April 12, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of current CIA Director and former Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo for the position of Secretary of State. Global health did not come up during the hearing. Although Senate Republicans altered the threshold for confirmation to a simple majority, his nomination is by no means guaranteed as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has indicated his opposition and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is recovering at home from brain cancer, leaving Senate Republicans with 49 votes in support, at most.