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Presented by Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance
Big Pharma hikes up drug prices every year, most recently on over 800 prescription drugs. But did you know these price hikes are often unjustified? For too long, Big Pharma has profited on the backs of hardworking Americans. Enough is enough.
![]() PRESENTED BY![]() BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN THE TOP… And we’re back. Happy Monday morning! The Office of Personnel Management has declared today a snow day for the federal government. This doesn’t necessarily mean Congress is shut down, but with the House out this week, the Senate only scheduled to hold one vote tonight and Omicron spreading rapidly across the city, we have to imagine the Hill will be quiet. Wahoo! Happy one-year birthday to Punchbowl News! We sent our first newsletter on Jan. 3, 2021 – the day Speaker Nancy Pelosi grabbed the speaker’s gavel back for Democrats. We have so much in store for Year Two: new partnerships, more coverage, lots of news, new swag and awesome events. Thanks for sticking with us. Exciting news: We have a brand new website. It looks awesome and it’s super functional. Check out the archives, easy to navigate events page and much more. Big thanks to Rachel Schindler and our team at Postlight for making it happen. Take a look! And here’s a quick video recapping our (very busy) first year. OK, enough about us. Let’s get into it. New … State of the Union: Two dates have been discussed for President Joe Biden’s annual address to Congress: Feb. 1 and March 1. There hasn’t been a final decision yet on timing. There’s never been a State of the Union in March, so Biden has the chance to make history – or something. Honoring Harry Reid: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will lie in state on Jan. 12 in the Rotunda. Reid passed away on Dec. 28. We’d expect Biden and other dignitaries for this event. News here … Covid testing: With the Omicron variant driving a huge increase in Covid cases, the Capitol Physician and other officials are discussing ways to increase testing capacity in the complex. We’ll stay on top of this for more info. Build Back Better, voting rights and the filibuster: You’re going to see two distinct things in coming weeks when it comes to Biden’s agenda. Schumer is going to put voting rights legislation and some version of the Build Back Better Act on the floor for debate and votes. No dates yet on when that will happen. The voting rights fight will trigger a discussion over the filibuster and Senate rules. Schumer promised last month to hold this debate. Schumer will begin talking about the path forward on voting rights and the filibuster today. Schumer will push the Freedom to Vote Act, which is backed by all 50 Senate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Republicans will block Senate action on the bill, which will then trigger the debate over filibuster. Machin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have opposed eliminating the 60-vote threshold for cloture, meaning Schumer is short the votes he needs to gut the filibuster. However, Senate Democrats have been lobbying the pair privately for months on a potential “carve-out” for voting rights bills. Other proposals include making it tougher to conduct filibusters, or bringing back the “talking filibuster,” which would require opponents of a bill to be on the floor actively debating it. New message alert: We also expect Senate Democrats to use the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attacks as a reason for passing voting rights legislation. Democrats will note that the insurrection was spurred by former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the elections. And those false claims are part of the reason Republicans in red states are imposing new restrictions on voting. This, they will say, is why Democrats insist new federal voting rights legislation must be enacted. On BBB, the real action will be behind the scenes as the White House and Senate Democratic leadership tries to figure out just what Manchin is willing to do on both priorities. Remember, Manchin has said that the BBB as currently constructed is dead. However, that doesn’t mean that none of the $1.7 trillion package is salvageable. There are policies in the bill that Manchin can support, and that will be where the action is over the next few weeks or even months. Now, we don’t know if the Senate will vote tonight as scheduled due to the snow predicted in D.C. But if they are back in session, there will be a leadership meeting. The Senate Democratic Caucus will meet on Tuesday. We don’t anticipate any quick turnaround on BBB. You should anticipate talks that could drag on for weeks. Remember what people say about Manchin – he can change his mind on how he’s voting between the elevator and the Senate floor. So this is someone who may be hard to pin down for some time. Also: We’re now on the government funding clock. The current continuing resolution keeping government agencies open runs out in 47 days, and there has been zero progress on an omnibus funding package so far. And remember: USICA, the bill aimed at combatting China’s rise, is still lingering. This was a big Schumer priority, but it has been caught in limbo between the House and Senate. We expect some action on this at some point this year. One other note: Biden is scheduled to release his FY 2023 budget proposal in one month. No one on the Hill or downtown believes there’s any chance that will come out on time. PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT The American Edge Project is a coalition dedicated to the proposition that American tech innovators are an essential part of U.S. economic health, national security and individual freedoms. Learn more. 👀 Who we’re watching this week ![]() → Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota. Thune promised a decision on whether he would run for re-election by the end of 2021. It’s now the beginning of 2022, and we don’t know whether one of the top contenders to serve as the next Senate GOP leader will seek another term. Not only does this have implications for Thune’s political future, but it has an outsized impact on the future of the Senate Republican Conference. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky isn’t going anywhere for a couple years at least, but if Thune decides not to seek reelection, it will be a two-man race between Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming. → Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The Democratic agenda hinges on Manchin and how he sees the future of the Build Back Better Act. We anticipate talks between President Joe Biden and Manchin will pick up as early as this week. → House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and McConnell: The one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack is this week, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a program lined up to commemorate that bloody day. The House is out of session, so we don’t expect McCarthy back. But the Senate is in, and we’ll have to see how the leadership there marks the day. McCarthy sent out a letter to GOP lawmakers last night, which gave a peek at how he’ll talk about the anniversary of the attack this week.
📅 What’s happening this week → Tonight: The Senate is supposed to be back. → Wednesday: Senate HELP will consider a number of nominations. Senate Rules will have Thomas Manger, the U.S. Capitol Police chief, at 10 a.m. for part three of its oversight of the department in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Senate Banking has a hearing on Community Development Financial Institutions. PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT Don’t Let American Technology Suffer The Same Fate As Manufacturing Doug Kelly, CEO, American Edge Project: As a Midwest native, my passion to protect America’s technology edge is rooted in my front row seat to the lasting damage caused to our country’s manufacturing sector by short-sighted policy decisions. Read his story. THE MONEY GAME Two Dem nuggets for you A pair of items we wanted to flag for you on the money-raising and donor maintenance front. → Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give her donors a “New Years update” on a call today at 3 p.m.. Here’s Pelosi in an email:
→ Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is hosting a number of fundraisers aimed at keeping the majority. Pallone writes in an email to supporters, “Note: These events are NOT fundraisers for Rep. Pallone’s campaign or leadership PAC.” The first event is Jan. 20 at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s headquarters on Capitol Hill and it benefits New Jersey Reps. Andy Kim, Mikie Sherrill and Tom Malinowski. Kim and Sherrill came out pretty strong from redistricting. Our friend Dave Wasserman at the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter says that Kim’s district went from an R+3 to a D+5, which is fairly solidly Democratic. Sherill’s seat went from even to a D+5, which also makes her district solidly Democratic. Malinowski’s seat went from a D+1 to an R+2 – a “likely Republican” seat, according to Wasserman. ![]() On Feb. 3, Pallone is hosting a DCCC fundraiser and dinner with Pelosi and the committee’s chairman, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York. ![]() ![]() → This one caught our attention: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) liquidated a joint finance committee that was heavily funded by private equity firm KKR. KKR heavyweights George Roberts, Henry Kravis and Ken Mehlman all donated $11,600 each to the committee. → Former Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) cut a $1,000 check to Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.). McKinley is in a member-versus-member primary against Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.). Mooney has former President Donald Trump’s backing. He also gave $35,000 from his campaign funds to non-political charities. FRONTS ![]() ![]() MOMENTS 8:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden will leave New Castle, Del., for D.C. He’ll arrive at Andrews at 9:45 a.m. and at the White House just after 10 a.m. 11:10 a.m.: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will get their daily intelligence briefing. 1:30 p.m.: Biden will meet with farmers and ranchers about “his Administration’s work to boost competition and reduce prices in the meat-processing industry.” 2 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief. Week ahead: Tuesday: Biden and Harris will attend a Covid briefing. Thursday: Biden and Harris will travel to the Capitol to commemorate the Jan. 6 attacks. Friday: Biden will speak about the December jobs report. CLIP FILE NYT → “Jan. 6 Panel Faces Difficult Questions as Anniversary of Capitol Riot Approaches,” by Luke Broadwater and Emily Cochrane → Ben Smith’s Media Equation Column: “A Former Facebook Executive Pushes to Open Social Media’s ‘Black Boxes’” WaPo → “House Democrats begin preparing for the post-Pelosi era,” by Marianna Sotomayor AP → “How will pandemic end? Omicron clouds forecasts for endgame,” by Lauran Neergaard and Carla K. Johnson → “Fauci: CDC mulling COVID test requirement for asymptomatic,” by Hope Yen and Aamer Madhani → “Pentagon chief Austin says he has tested positive for COVID” Politico → “Increased threats, overburdened officers: Capitol contends with preventing a Jan. 6 repeat,” by Kyle Cheney Bloomberg → “Biden Reaffirms Commitment to Ukraine in Call With Zelenskiy,” by Jenny Leonard Dallas Morning News → “Residents of East Texas town report fish falling from sky,” by Hojun Choi PRESENTED BY AMERICAN EDGE PROJECT Don’t Let American Technology Suffer The Same Fate As Manufacturing Doug Kelly, CEO, American Edge Project: It is fashionable now to be against “Big Tech,” with some even calling to break it up. But lawmakers need to understand that technology and tech innovation is not just another sector of the economy. Rather, it is the entire backbone of our country’s national security, our economic competitiveness, and of the advancement of American values both at home and abroad. Our leaders must remain wary of anti-competitive legislation that will weaken U.S. companies and embolden China, paving the way for foreign adversaries to dominate the technology landscape. Learn more. ![]() Enjoying Punchbowl News AM? ![]() Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat! Your referral link is: Or share via You currently have: 0 referrals
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Presented by Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance
Americans know who to blame for rising drug prices: Big Pharma. A majority of Republicans, Democrats, & Independents all believe Big Pharma’s focus on profits keeps drug prices high. Let’s hold Big Pharma accountable – it’s an issue we’re united on.