With impeachment in the rear window and lawmakers in both the House and Senate receiving their committee assignments, policymaking in the 117th Congress is set to get underway.
In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party remains in the majority with no changes to the top-ranking positions on committees with jurisdiction over healthcare issues: The Committee on Energy and Commerce will continue to be chaired by Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) while Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) takes over the top Republican spot on the committee following Rep. Greg Walden’s retirement. Rep. McMorris-Rodgers has been a strong ally of the medical provider community and supported the Veteran’s Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act last year.
The leadership of the Ways and Means Committee remains the same as the 116th Congress with Rep. Richard Neil (D-MA) chairing the committee and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) continuing on as ranking member.
On the other side of the Capitol, Democrats now control all Senate committees following their twin victories in the two Georgia Senate run-off races. As a result, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a prostate cancer survivor, will now chair the Senate Finance Committee, the panel with jurisdiction over Medicare. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), meanwhile, assumes the role of ranking member on the committee, a position from which he may seek to promote his longtime support for a National Office of Men’s Health.
On the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has taken over as chair while Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) has ascended to the number two position following the retirement of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) who had chaired the committee since 2015.
The AACU is in the final stages of updating its advocacy priorities for the 117th Congress and will be working closely with these congressional offices to educate them about issues impacting the urologic community. In addition, while UROPAC disbursements remain on pause following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, AACU staff are continuing to meet with lawmakers who sit on these committees, as well as healthcare professionals who serve in Congress, in order to maintain critical relationships that will help AACU advance its legislative agenda.