October 25, 2021
D.C. News
  • Congressional Democrats are considering scaling back their prescription drug pricing plan by exempting new, expensive drugs from Medicare price negotiation. The change would be a major shift away from earlier proposals that focused mostly on drugs that don’t face any competition. The latest proposal comes as lawmakers seek to win over moderates like Senator Kyrsten Sinema and finalize their social spending bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped to pass an infrastructure bill and have a deal in hand on the social spending bill by the end of the week. (Articles here, here, here, and here)
  • President Joe Biden met privately on Friday with Robert Califf, who is reportedly the lead candidate to become the next FDA commissioner. While the president has not announced his nominee, people familiar with the matter said the meeting represents a final step ahead of a formal decision. The Senate confirmed Califf by a vote of 89-4 for his one-year term as commissioner in 2016. (Article here)