Congress is proceeding with its Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget process and has started holding hearings with agency leaders to discuss the Administration’s priorities. On June 8, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. There were select mentions of global health during the hearings. Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-IN) asked Secretary Price to discuss global health and the role of U.S. leadership, to which Secretary Price discussed the success of working with the WHO on the Global Health Security Agenda. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) asked about lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak, to which Secretary Price similarly discussed our commitment to GHSA and the success of deploying Americans from the CDC and NIH to help quell the epidemic. Florida Congressman Carlos Curbello (R-FL) asked Secretary Price to commit to funding for development of the Zika vaccine, to which the Secretary stated the agency’s commitment.
The next step is the release and markup of the bills by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees. The outlook for passing a spending bill before the end of FY 2017 looks dim and it is likely we will have a short-term spending measure for the beginning of FY 2018. You may recall that there was bipartisan opposition to the President’s budget proposal, and while many months behind, appropriators began the process for determining the FY 2018 budget. Republicans are now running up against the clock, particularly given that Congress does not conduct business in the month of August and will have a short window in September to complete the spending bills.
Last month, the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing about NIH activities and NIH funding. NIH Director Francis Collins testified and was accompanied by five Institute directors, including NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) was particularly supportive of NIH, noting his opposition to the Administration’s proposed cuts. Subcommittee Ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) was supportive as well, highlighting the work of NIH in combatting the Ebola outbreak and working toward a Zika vaccine. Congresswoman DeLauro showed strong support for the Fogarty International Center, noting that while Fogarty is only “a sliver of NIH’s budget, it has an outsized impact” on mitigating outbreaks abroad, helping ensure that diseases are quickly contained and training some of the best practitioners on the ground.
(Watch a recoding of the hearing
here.)
Meanwhile, President Trump continues to round out his administration, announcing that Dr. Francis Collins will remain Director of the NIH. The Administration’s lag in nominating hundreds of positions throughout the Executive branch persists, including the permanent CDC Director and PMI Coordinator.