LATEST FROM DC
• ASTMH continues to advocate before Congress and the Biden administration
ON THE HILL
• House Hustle for FY25 Appropriations Continues, Promises of Parity in Senate
• Dr. Fauci Returns to Capitol Hill
• House Releases NDAA Amendments, Some Pertinent to Global Health
• Top NIH Officials Testify Before Senate on Budget
• NIH Deputy Director Testifies Before House COVID Select Subcommittee
• HHS Accepts House Recommendation to Prohibit Funding to EcoHealth Alliance and Disbar Leadership
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
• Biden Administration Takes Steps to Shield NIH from Political Interference
• NIH Releases First-of-Its Kind RFI on Expanding Access to Taxpayer-Funded Inventions
• CDC Holds Roundtable on Vector-Borne Disease National Strategy
• HHS Global Affairs to Host a Listening Session for the G7 Health Track
ASTMH continues to advocate before Congress and the Biden administration. Letters that ASTMH led or joined include:
- Letter welcoming Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, Fogarty International Center (FIC) Research Director and Associate Director for International Research at the NIH.
- Letter to Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic leadership to support the nation’s public health workforce and public health infrastructure in the wake of June 3 hearing with former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
- Letter to President Biden urging for bold U.S. leadership and increased commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
- Letter supporting the advancement of the Global Frontline Health Worker Resolution in the Senate.
- Letter to House and Senate appropriations leadership urging for robust funding for global health; nutrition; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and biosafety and biosecurity programs and other global health-related budgets for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.
- Letter to House and Senate leadership urging to reject arbitrary funding levels for non-defense discretionary (NDD) appropriations, invest the necessary amount needed, and avoid poison pill policy riders altogether that undercut national priorities.
ON THE HILL
House Hustle for FY25 Appropriations Continues, Promises of Parity in Senate
In the House, appropriators are working to keep course with an ambitious timeline to pass as many appropriations (funding) bills as possible in the coming months for FY25. As such, with topline spending levels released, subcommittees have been swiftly advancing bills to the full committee on a partisan basis, with the goal of marking up most bills by the August recess. The House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Subcommittee recently advanced its
bill for markup by the full committee, which included cuts to global health and concerning policy provisions that could impede global health security initiatives. (NOTE: It is important to remember that the bill reflects partisan priorities and policy divisions that will likely be mitigated as negotiations continue). Based on the proposed timeline, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) funding bill, which also provides funding for key global health programs, will likely be voted on before the House adjourns for August recess. In the Senate, Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) has
pledged that the committee will markup all bills and reject spending bills that make funding boosts for defense-related programs at the expense of non-defense programs. “We do need stronger investments in our military and national security to address the challenges we face today. But investing in child care, in healthcare, in education, our environment, in workers, in critical research, and all of those other priorities here at home matters just as much as the investments we make in our military,” Chair Murray said in a
statement.
Dr. Fauci Returns to Capitol Hill
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former NIAID director,
recently testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on the origins of COVID-19. Throughout the contentious hearing, Republican lawmakers grilled Dr. Fauci on the government’s response to COVID and alleged misconduct that occurred under his leadership. Dr. Fauci forcefully pushed back against unfounded allegations and various conspiracy theories, including that he had any role in downplaying the “lab leak” hypothesis of COVID’s origins. Democrats criticized the committee for using the hearing for partisan attacks rather than its mandate to better understand the pandemic’s origins and strengthen national pandemic preparedness. Ahead of the hearing, the subcommittee released transcripts from closed-door interviews conducted with Dr. Fauci earlier this year and a
memo with key takeaways, which further defended the lab-leak theory and asserted that certain pandemic-era policies, like social distancing, were not supported by scientific evidence. Dr. Fauci also received backlash from committee members about potential misconduct by former NIAID Senior Advisor Dr. David Morens regarding public records laws. Dr. Morens was
called before the subcommittee in late May regarding alleged federal records violations.
House Releases NDAA Amendments, Some Pertinent to Global Health
As part of the legislation to reauthorize the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), there have been several amendments
introduced in the House’s version of the bill that would impact global health. Notably, Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA) and Maria Salazar (R-FL) submitted an amendment to align U.S. tuberculosis control effort objectives with the international health community. Additionally, there was an amendment to prohibit funding for the WHO, as well as an amendment to bar funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth Alliance and “any laboratory owned or controlled by adversarial nations, or gain-of-function research of concern.” ASTMH will be following this debate as the NDAA bill moves through the process.
Top NIH Officials Testify Before Senate on Budget
NIH Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, NIAID Director Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo and National Cancer Institute Director Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell
testified before the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Subcommittee on the President’s FY25 Budget Request for NIH. Subcommittee leadership highlighted the importance of continued investments in biomedical research. Of note, Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) highlighted how biomedical research activity spurred by NIH generated $92 billion for the economy. Republican members on the committee emphasized the need for greater transparency into the agency’s research practices, particularly in regard to gain-of-function research.
NIH Deputy Director Testifies Before House COVID Select Subcommittee
NIH Director Lawrence Tabak
testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic for a hearing titled, “Overseeing the Overseers: A Hearing with NIH Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak.” Dr. Tabak faced heated questions from lawmakers on issues related to oversight, federal grants made to EcoHealth Alliance and the origins of the pandemic
.
HHS Accepts House Recommendation to Prohibit Funding to EcoHealth Alliance and Disbar Leadership
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it will
suspend funding to EcoHealth Alliance, concurring with a recommendation made by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The following week HHS also moved to personally disbar EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak from
receiving future funding. “EcoHealth’s immediate funding suspension and future debarment is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide,” said Select Subcommittee Chairman Brand Wenstrup (R-OH) in a
statement following the HHS decision. Wenstrup has indicated that Dr. Daszak is still expected to comply with the subcommittee’s ongoing investigation into the origins of the COVID pandemic.
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
Biden Administration Takes Steps to Shield NIH from Political Interference
Earlier this year, the White House unveiled a
plan to strengthen scientific integrity policies across the federal government, which included forming a joint-agency scientific integrity council. Under the plan, agencies that oversee scientific research must designate a scientific integrity official and institute scientific integrity policies that prohibit political interference, among other key objectives. As part of this effort, NIH recently designated Dr. Lyric Jorgenson as the agency’s scientific integrity official. Dr. Jorgenson currently serves as the Associate Director for Science Policy and the Director of the Office of Science Policy at the NIH. “Interfering and manipulating science to hit a partisan agenda is inappropriate and is what we’re working to wall against,” said Dr. Jorgenson in a recent
interview with Politico regarding the new role.
NIH Releases First-of-Its Kind RFI on Expanding Access to Taxpayer-Funded Inventions
The NIH
recently released a Request for Information (RFI) on a new policy within the agency’s Intramural Research Program (IRP) to expand access to NIH-funded technologies, particularly drugs, biologics, vaccines, and other devices for the prevention and treatment of disease. The agency is looking for stakeholder feedback across several key areas, including expanding access to NIH technologies, promoting transparency, maintaining flexibility in innovation and assessing policy impacts. Comments are due by July 22 and can be submitted
here.
CDC Holds Roundtable on Vector-Borne Disease National Strategy
The CDC and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health convened a roundtable to discuss implementing the
Vector-Borne Disease National Strategy. A summary of the roundtable will be made available later this year.
HHS Global Affairs to Host a Listening Session for the G7 Health Track
The HHS Office of Global Affairs will host a stakeholder listening session for the G7 health track on Wednesday, July 24, from 10AM to noon EDT. The meeting will help inform and prepare for U.S. government engagement with G7 health ministries. To participate in the meeting, please RSVP to
[email protected] by Friday, July 19.