Advocacy Update: Top Things to Know This Week
Administration News
FY23 Spending Package Signed Into Law
On December 29, President Biden signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill into law, which includes $10.6 billion for Global Health Programs at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an increase of $731 million above the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 enacted level and approximately in line with President Biden’s FY23 budget request. The bill also provides higher levels or flat funding for all program areas compared to the FY22 enacted level, with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) and global health security receiving the most significant increases. A summary of global health funding in the FY23 Omnibus appropriations bill from the Kaiser Family Foundation can be found here.
Administration For Strategic Purposes And Response (ASPR) Releases Strategic Plan For 2022-2026
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response recently released its updated five-year strategic plan. These strategic goals include preparing for future public health emergencies and disasters, managing the Federal response to and recovery from public emergencies and other disasters, improving and leveraging partnerships with healthcare and public health stakeholders, and ensuring workforce readiness.
FY23 Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) Now Available
On January 17, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) released its Malaria Operational Plans (MOPs), which are detailed one-year implementation plans for PMI focus countries. Each plan was developed in collaboration with the respective national malaria program and outlines the current status of malaria control and prevention policies and interventions, identifies challenges and unmet needs to achieve PMI goals, and describes planned PMI-funded activities.
USAID Releases Annual Water and Development Report
The Global Water and Development Report highlights how USAID’s work in FY21 advanced its vision of a water-secure world and summarizes USAID FY21 water and sanitation funding and results of its water and sanitation activities in the countries in which the agency works. Under the 2017-2022 Global Water Strategy, USAID aimed to reach 15 million people with access to sustainable drinking water services and 8 million with access to sanitation by 2022; however, it exceeded those goals by 2020 and kept the momentum in 2021 despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and conflict.
Congressional News
118th Congress Sworn In And Committee Makeup Begins To Take Shape
On January 7, members-elect were sworn in as Members of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 118th Congress after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was sworn in as the new Speaker of the House. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was elected Majority Leader and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was elected Minority Leader. More details about the Members of the House of Representatives can be found here, along with the 2023 House and Senate Calendars.
The ratios of Republicans to Democrats on House committees have been set, clearing the path for the Democratic Steering Committee to assign their members to committees. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced appointments to committee assignments for new Democratic members. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced Appropriations subcommittee rosters.
Senate Republicans haven’t finalized committee rosters for the new Congress, stymying work in the chamber. Leaders aren’t likely to sign off on an outline allowing committees to organize until this week, at the earliest. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced Democratic Committee memberships for the 118th Congress.
Below are the known and/or presumed leaders for the global health-relevant House and Senate Committees:
House
House Committee on Appropriations
Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Chairwoman
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Ranking Member
House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Chairman
TBD, Ranking Member
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Chairman
TBD, Ranking Member
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member
Senate
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Sen. Patty Murrah (D-WA), Chairwoman
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Ranking Member
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE), Chairman
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chairman
TBD, Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman
Sen. James Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member
Anti-WHO Legislation Introduced In The House Of Representatives
On January 9, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 79: WHO Withdrawal Act, which requires the President to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) and prohibits using any federal funds to provide for U.S. participation in the WHO. The bill also repeals the 1948 act authorizing the U.S. to join the WHO.
On January 12, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced H.R. 343: No Taxpayer Funding Act to prohibit the U.S. from providing any assessed or voluntary contributions to WHO.
Global Health Council and its members will continue to track this and other legislation regarding WHO and continue to highlight the importance of WHO in global health efforts broadly in meetings with policymakers.
Speaker McCarthy Appoints Members To Select Subcommittee On The COVID-19 Pandemic
On January 24, Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) announced the members that will serve on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, with Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) being selected as Chairman. The select subcommittee plans to investigate the origins of COVID-19 as well as gain of function research. Global Health Council and its members will track the activities of the subcommittee.
Multilateral News
GHC Attends 152nd WHO Executive Board Meeting
This week, Global Health Council is attending the WHO’s 152nd Executive Board Meeting (EB152), which takes place from January 30 – February 7 in Geneva, Switzerland. YOu can access the main documents, including the provisional agenda, here. You can watch the proceedings via the live stream here. GHC will prepare statements on several agenda items to deliver as part of statements on universal health coverage and health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience. A high-level readout of EB152 outcomes will be sent to GHC members after the meeting concludes.
WHO Announces Plans To Establish A TB Vaccine Accelerator Council
On January 17, the WHO Direcor-General, Dr. Tedros announced plans to establish a new TB Vaccine Accelerator Council during a high-level panel on TB at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The Council intends to bring together funders, global agencies, governments, and those living with TB to help identify and overcome barriers to TB vaccine development.
Advocacy Action
InterAction Releases Aid Delivers 2023: Foreign Assistance In The 118th Congress
The Aid Delivers 2023 report highlights the humanitarian and development challenges currently facing the globe and features examples of the important work U.S. foreign assistance programs do to address them. Global Health Council worked closely with our partners at InterAction to develop the Global Health brief and WASH brief.