Policy Updates: Hill Happenings and Administration Activities
Hill Happenings
FY2025 Appropriations
Lawmakers are running out of time to agree on a bipartisan spending package for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) by the March 14 deadline set in place by the current continuing resolution (CR) (H.R.10445). The Republican caucus, who now holds a supermajority in the 119th Congress and the White House, is divided in their approach to advance President Trump’s policy priorities. Republicans are attempting to leverage the budget reconciliation process to advance their agenda, which is a special legislative procedure that requires only a simple majority to pass legislation that meets specific spending guidelines if both the House and Senate pass identical budget resolutions. However, the Senate aimed to utilize budget reconciliation in both FY2025 and Fiscal Year 2026 (FY2026) to advance the GOP agenda through two spending cycles, but the House is aiming to include all policy priorities in a single omnibus bill.
Now that Congress faces a potential government shutdown on March 15, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) proposed to advance a full-year CR for FY2025 in order to avoid a government shutdown battle with Democrats. If agreed to by the Senate, the Republican caucus would focus on unifying a bicameral coalition around the FY26 package in order to advance their policy priorities through budget reconciliation before the 2026 midterm elections potentially threaten their supermajority.
NASTAD will continue to monitor the congressional appropriations process and advocate for the highest possible funding for HIV, hepatitis, and drug user health programs.
Senate HELP Committee Schedules FDA Commissioner, NIH Director Nomination Hearings
On February 27, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee scheduled the first nomination hearing to vet President Trump’s nominee to lead the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Marty Makary. Makary is currently a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University and has worked at the World Health Organization Patient Safety Program. Notably, Makary cultivated Republican support during the COVID-19 pandemic after he made controversial claims about vaccine efficacy and the role of herd immunity for protecting the public health. As part of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, Makary supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s (RFK) contentious nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). RFK secured the Senate majority vote on February 13 and was sworn in as Secretary of HHS. Additionally, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on March 5. President Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dave Weldon, has not yet been scheduled for confirmation hearings.
Administration Activities
Federal District Court Lifts Restraining Order Barring Trump Administration from Removing Language on Transgender and Gender Diverse People
On February 24, a Judge on the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia presiding over Doctors for America v OPM lifted a temporary restraining order that barred the Trump Administration from removing language on Transgender individuals from federal agency websites and datasets. On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order (EO) asserting the existence of only two sexes and ordered federal agencies to cease the alleged promotion of “gender ideology.” To comply with the EO, federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In lifting the restraining order, the court has enabled the government to complete a “rolling review” of the impacted webpages and datasets – giving a deadline of March 21, 2025, to complete such review. It’s unclear at this time whether the government intends to apply a rolling review to any websites not identified in the order. The government has until March 21st to file a report with the court detailing the specific modifications and removals it intends to implement.
Resources
“In April 2024, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health identified three cases of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection among people experiencing homelessness at the same time as a sharp increase in HAV concentrations at the wastewater plant that services the area where the patients lived.”
Job Postings
Executive Director of Programs – New York City, NY
The New York City Health Department is seeking an Executive Director of Programs to join its Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and STIs (BHHS). The Executive Director of Programs will provide day-to-day oversight and operational support to BHHS’s HIV Care and Treatment Program, HIV Epidemiology Program, HIV Prevention Program, STI Program, and Viral Hepatitis Program, which comprise the majority of the bureau’s staff. The Executive Director of Programs will report to BHHS’s Assistant Commissioner and work alongside the Assistant Commissioner and BHHS leadership to ensure these Programs are supported to function optimally and collaboratively, and that BHHS is well-positioned to implement its strategic priorities and achieve its mission to improve the lives of New Yorkers by ending transmission, illness, stigma, and inequities related to viral hepatitis, HIV, and STIs. For more information or to apply for the position, visit the job posting on NYC Jobs, here.
Communicable Disease Epidemiologist – Cheyenne, Wyoming
This position will serve as the Communicable Disease AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Coordinator, Wyoming TB Controller, and Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS) for the Communicable Disease (CD) Treatment Program. Assist in outbreak response to ensure the safety of Wyoming residents; by interviewing cases for exposure information, updating news outlets on the progress of outbreak control, analyzing exposure data utilizing epidemiological and statistical methods.
News Bulletin
U.S. Businesses Seek to Accelerate the Movement to End HIV
“[U.S. Business Action to End HIV’s (USBAEH)] seeds were planted when the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) wrote the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) calling for increased private sector involvement in the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE), which began in the first Trump administration (and which HIV advocates are hoping the second Trump administration will continue to move forward). ViiV, the HIV drugmaker, gave USBAEH seed money. Since then, USBAEH has grown to 68 official members (including ViiV and fellow HIV drugmaker Gilead to pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens to companies such as Uber, Walmart and Chevron) and to roughly 500 companies with a lower threshold involvement, such as regularly receiving USBAEH educational materials about HIV treatment and prevention to share with their employees.
White House formally instructs agencies to prepare for 'large-scale' layoffs and reorganization
“The Trump administration is directing all federal agencies to "promptly" begin preparations for large-scale layoffs and restructuring, and submit plans for doing do so by March 13, according to a new memo obtained by ABC News. The memo, from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Charles Ezell, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, was issued Wednesday morning and includes instructions for agencies to follow as they work to downsize their workforces and, in some cases, physical footprints.”
RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment on HHS decisions
“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a document Friday proposing to strip public participation from much of the business his department conducts. The move comes during a time of major upheaval across federal health agencies, and as the public waits to see how Kennedy will enact his pledge of “radical transparency” at the department. The statement, placed in the Federal Register, said HHS would rescind its longtime practice of giving members of the public a chance to comment on the agency’s plans. It is set to be formally published in the register on Monday, March 3.”
Legendary former NIH director retires from embattled agency
“Dr. Francis Collins, the legendary former director of the National Institutes of Health, has retired, NPR has learned. Collins, who notified the NIH on Friday of his decision, did not specify the reasons for his departure. But his retirement comes as the world's largest public funder of biomedical research is in turmoil under the Trump administration, facing cutbacks and layoffs.”