Senate Health Panels to Hold Confirmation Hearings This Week – Several of the Trump administration’s health care nominees are scheduled to appear before lawmakers during their confirmation hearings this week. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will consider the nominations of Chris Klomp, MBA to serve as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ge Bai, Ph.D., CPA to serve as an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services. Klomp will then appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Wednesday, alongside Nicole Saphier, M.D., the nominee for Surgeon General, and Timothy Westlake, M.D., the nominee for Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use.
House Democrats Consider Formation of AI Select Committee – Democrats in the House of Representatives are considering the formation of a select committee on artificial intelligence should they retake control of the chamber in November, according to POLITICO. The talks are being led by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has reportedly been included in the planning effort and expressed an openness to the idea. House select committees are created through a full House vote and operate for only the two years of the Congress that created them.
Wyden, Hassan Write Secretary Kennedy on “Vanity Project” Spending – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and committee member Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) have sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding his use of time and taxpayer funded resources to promote his personal brand. “On a bipartisan basis, Congress has provided your department with targeted resources to fight outbreaks of disease….However, it appears that you are not using this Office or comparable department resources to address ongoing public health crises,” the senators write, “Instead, you appear to be directing taxpayer dollars and official federal resources to produce vanity projects.” The lawmakers specifically request records and information related to projects such as Kennedy’s “The Real Food Show,” and “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast.”
HHS Announces Key FDA Leadership Selections – HHS recently announced the selection of four senior leaders at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to HHS, the appointments are intended to strengthen FDA leadership as the agency focuses on innovation, national health security, access to affordable medicines and medical products, and health and wellness. The selections include:
- Entrepreneur Jared Seehafer, M.S. to serve as FDA’s first Deputy Commissioner for Technology and Artificial Intelligence;
- Psychiatrist Michael Davis, M.D., Ph.D. to serve as Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research;
- Former Merck official Karim Mikhail, B.Pharm, MSc to serve as Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; and
- Attorney and longtime FDA official Bret Koplow, Ph.D., J.D. to serve as Director of the Center for Tobacco Products.
President Promises Rebate Checks to ACA Exchange Enrollees – President Donald Trump announced last week that his administration will send $500 rebate checks to nearly one million Americans who he argues were overcharged for coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. The checks will be mailed starting in October to people across the 30 states that use Healthcare.gov.
Upcoming Congressional Hearings and Markups
House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust field hearing “Examining Healthcare Markets: Fraud and Competition;” 9:00 a.m.; September 14
Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing to consider Gerard Klomp to be Deputy Secretary of HHS and Ge Bai to be an Assistant Secretary of HHS; 10:00 a.m.; September 15
House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing “Unequal Treatment: Addressing the Drivers of Unaffordability for Oral Chemotherapy;” 10:00 a.m.; September 15
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing “Examining Legislative Proposals to Reform Medicare Provider Payment and Bolster Health Care Cybersecurity;” 10:15 a.m.; September 15
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee nomination hearing to consider Chris Klomp to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Nicole Saphier to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, and Timothy Westlake to be Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use; 10:00 a.m.; September 16
House Select Committee on China – “Import Controls: Tools to Counter the CCP’s Industrial Policy and Supply Chain Threats;” 10:00 a.m.; September 16
House Financial Services Committee markup of various measures, including the Securing Facilities for Mental Health Services Act (H.R. 7030); 10:00 a.m.; September 16
Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing “Half the Country, Zero Hearings: Meeting the Moment to End the Menopause Care Gap in America;” 3:30 p.m.; September 16
Recently Introduced Health Legislation
H.R. 10311 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a civil monetary penalty for certain hospitals failing to comply with certain requirements where such failure immediately jeopardizes the health or safety of patients; Sponsor: Chuck Edwards [Rep.-R-NC-11]; Committees: House – Ways and Means
H.R. 10319 – A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for requirements sensitive Government positions relating to gender dysphoria, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Nancy Mace [Rep.-R-SC-01]; Committees: House – Oversight and Government Reform
Res. 1514– A resolution recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem, expressing support for the designation of September 8, 2026, as “988 Day” and the role of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Wesley Bell [Rep.-D-MO-01]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
Res. 1515 – A resolution recognizing New Jersey’s first responders, including its law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel, who responded to the September 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center and who carried out the rescue, recovery, and medical relief efforts in the days and months that followed; Sponsor: Josh Gottheimer [Rep.-D-NJ-05]; Committees: House – Transportation and Infrastructure; Judiciary; Energy and Commerce
Res. 1516 – A resolution expressing support for the designation of September 9 as “National African Immigrant and Refugee HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness (NAIRHHA) Day”; Sponsor: Hank Johnson [Rep.-D-GA-04]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
Res. 1519 – A resolution supportingthe designation of September 17, 2026, as “National Physician Suicide Awareness Day” to raise awareness of, and promote a national discussion about, physician suicide and to reduce the stigma of mental health conditions, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Haley Stevens [Rep.-D-MI-11]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.Res.1528 — Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September, 2026, as “National Suicide Prevention Month” as well as September 10, 2026, as “World Suicide Prevention Day”; Sponsor: Thanedar, Shri [Rep.-D-MI-13]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.10331 — To provide payment for patient navigator services under title XIX of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes; Sponsor: DeSaulnier, Mark [Rep.-D-CA-10]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.10336 — To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to encourage innovation and increase and protect consumer access with respect to dietary supplements by clarifying the regulatory framework governing drug preclusion, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Harshbarger, Diana [Rep.-R-TN-1]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.10345 — To require continued participation by the United States in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Mfume, Kweisi [Rep.-D-MD-7]; Committees: House – Foreign Affairs
H.R.10348 — To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen program integrity oversight for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Suozzi, Thomas R. [Rep.-D-NY-3]; Committees: House – Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce
H.R.10349 — To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Public Safety Mental Health Fellowship Program, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Tran, Derek [Rep.-D-CA-45]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce