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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![]() Happy Wednesday morning. Last year, we launched The Canvass, Punchbowl News’ anonymous survey of senior Capitol Hill aides. It’s been a huge success. We have tons of very active participants, so thank you! We’ve been able to provide our readers with incisive and timely insights about what the top aides on Capitol Hill think on key issues. We all know that senior aides are some of the most influential people in American government. And their voices haven’t been heard until now. We have something new and exciting to announce: Today we are launching The Canvass: K Street. Our goal is simple. We want to get at the true issues driving business and industry in Washington. Corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year trying to influence the federal government on every issue imaginable. We’re looking to capture what lobbyists and corporations think, what their goals are, what drives them, what information they consume, how they consume it and why. Just like we’ve done on Capitol Hill, we’re in the process of putting together an anonymous survey of senior downtown figures – vice presidents, managing directors, principals in-house at companies, those working for outside networks such as labor unions and associations, as well as hired guns at lobbying and public affairs firms. Anonymity is fully guaranteed. The survey will be powered by the independent polling firm Locust Street Group. We’ll share topline insights with Punchbowl News AM readers and the full results with our Premium community. We’re digging deeper into public sentiment in D.C., which will allow us to compare and contrast what corporations and downtown players believe with what senior aides are saying on Capitol Hill. Think you qualify? Sign up here. PRESENTED BY CLIMATE POWER There is overwhelming public support for Congressional action on climate that will create millions of clean energy jobs, all right here in America. Across party lines, the American people support investments that create clean energy jobs (78%) and address climate change (73%). Voters showed up in record numbers in 2020, demanding a government that works for them. Congress, show that you listened to voters by acting on climate and creating millions of good-paying, clean energy jobs. DIVING DEEP Ben Ray Luján is in the hospital. Why this matters for Senate Democrats ![]() We’ll say this first – we‘ve covered Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) since his days in the House leadership, both as assistant speaker and running the DCCC. We truly hope that BRL recovers from this medical emergency. Luján underwent brain surgery to relieve swelling following the stroke and remains hospitalized. Although he’s only 49, strokes are extraordinarily scary, and we wish him nothing but the best. We have no idea how long Luján will be sidelined during his recovery. There’s no timetable for his return at this point. On two previous occasions where senators suffered strokes – former Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) – it took them months to return to the Capitol. And however long Luján remains absent, the Senate Democratic leadership is going to be in a jam. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer doesn’t have a working majority without Luján. So Schumer will have to steer an even more careful path than he has for the 50-50 Senate – if that’s even possible. He will only push forward on nominations or bills with clear bipartisan support. This would still allow an omnibus spending deal or a Russian sanctions package, but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s virtual veto on legislation now extends to the executive calendar as well. Here are some impacts: → Commerce Committee Democrats have already had to delay the consideration of three nominees for this week: Gigi Sohn to be a commissioner at the FCC, Alvaro Bedoya to be a commissioner of the FTC and Mary Boyle to be a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Without Luján there, Committee Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) can’t get this trio out of the panel. Sohn’s confirmation would give Democrats a majority at the FCC for the first time under President Joe Biden. Bedoya’s nomination stalled after a 14–14 tie inside the panel in December, and Biden has re-nominated her. → The Build Back Better Act’s much hoped-for resurrection is over for now. Even if Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) somehow drastically alters his entire worldview and embraces BBB – which isn’t going to happen despite what progressives say – Democrats are short of a 50th vote without Luján. → Any prospect of getting a compromise USICA/America COMPETES bill worked out in the next month has diminished significantly. → Here’s a real question: Can the Senate pass anything big by the time Biden gives his State of the Union address on March 1? → When it comes to the Supreme Court, Luján’s absence doesn’t have an immediate impact. Luján doesn’t serve on the Judiciary Committee, and his vote wouldn’t be needed until late March or early April for a floor vote under current scenarios. → Will it have an impact on who Biden nominates? This would only come into play if Luján’s absence lasts several months or more. Then Biden would need to pick up at least one Republican vote. So which candidate would be able to attract Republican support? Ketanji Brown Jackson – first confirmed by the Senate to the federal bench in 2013 by a voice vote – won support from three GOP senators last year when she moved up the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, often seen as a staging ground for Supreme Court justices. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) all backed her in that closely watched vote, seen at the time as a potential Supreme Court dry run. That GOP trio also backed Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in June. J. Michelle Childs, who was confirmed as a federal district court judge in 2010 in a Senate voice vote as well, has gotten very vocal support from Graham. The South Carolina Republican has all but publicly endorsed her. She could pick up other GOP backing as well. Tiffany Cunningham, who serves as a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, has been suggested by administration officials as a possible pick. A graduate of MIT and Harvard Law School, Cunningham was confirmed for her appeals court post by a 63-33 margin last July. Fifteen Republicans voted for Cunningham at that time, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking Republican on Judiciary. Of course, that’s not a Supreme Court nomination, so it wouldn’t matter to Republicans that they backed her previously. All bets are off when it comes to the Supreme Court. Of all the other names offered by the White House, District Judge Wilhelmina Wright was confirmed by the Senate in 2016 for a federal bench seat in Minnesota by a 58-36 vote. Fourteen Republicans, including Grassley, supported her. But like Cunningham, none of that will matter in a Supreme Court fight. THE SENATE AND THE WORLD Senate GOP is negotiating on Russia sanctions, but isn’t committed to voting for them ![]() Key Senate Republicans, like Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), are involved in negotiating a Russia sanctions package. But we’ve picked up on an interesting split in the Senate GOP Conference. It’s far from certain there will be 11 Republican votes to pass any sanctions package, even if Risch were to reach an agreement with Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Part of the concern among Republicans is that doing so would give a “pass” to President Joe Biden and the Democrats, allowing them to “look tough” on Russia even as Republicans are convinced the White House has badly mishandled the crisis. Republicans “wanted sanctions on Nord Stream 2, but [Biden] let the chance go, so why should we bail them out now?” a GOP senator told us. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP hardliners want sanctions imposed immediately as well, arguing that the only way to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from ordering an invasion is to act now. “I think what we ought to be doing right now, before the invasion occurs, is sending the Ukrainians weapons they can fight with – anti-tank weapons, ground-to-air missiles,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “Give them a chance to inflict some real damage if they, in fact, come in.” Yet the package under discussion by Menendez and Risch envisions a two-tiered approach: some sanctions would be imposed immediately, while another set of even more draconian measures would kick in if Russia invades Ukraine. Several Republicans are privately backing this approach, including Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and John Cornyn (Texas), said the sources. But it’s not clear there are 11 GOP votes to overcome any potential filibuster with Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján (N.M.) out. “A lot of our guys think any sanctions after an invasion are useless,” a Republican aide close to the issue told us. Republicans and Democrats involved in the talks have preached the importance of the Congress speaking with one voice on sanctions, so this will be very interesting to watch. We’ll have more on this as the Menendez-Risch negotiations continue today. PRESENTED BY CLIMATE POWER This is the moment: voters want Congress to lower energy costs, create millions of jobs, and tackle climate change. FRONTS ![]() ![]() MOMENTS 9 a.m.: House Democrats will meet with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. 10:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will get their intelligence briefing. … House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and Vice Chair Pete Aguilar will talk to reporters after the caucus meeting. 10:45 a.m.: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will talk to reporters. 12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief. 1:30 p.m.: Biden, Harris and First Lady Jill Biden will host an event at the White House to “reignite the Cancer Moonshot.” 3 p.m.: The Covid-19 response team will brief. CLIP FILE NYT → “Biden Promised 500 Million Free Covid Tests. Then He Had to Find Them,” by Noah Weiland, Katie Thomas and Jessica Silver-Greenberg → “In Clash With U.S. Over Ukraine, Putin Has a Lifeline From China,” by Steven Lee Myers in Beijing and Edward Wong in D.C. → “Jan. 6 Panel Examining Trump’s Role in Proposals to Seize Voting Machines,” by Luke Broadwater, Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer and Mike Schmidt WaPo → “Putin wants to push NATO away from Russia. Instead, he’s getting more NATO troops on his border,” by Liz Sly at Amari Air Base, Estonia → “Trump’s latest claim that election could have been ‘overturned’ looms over electoral count debate in Congress,” by Mike DeBonis Bloomberg → “U.S. Dangles Offer to Russia on Missile Checks at Key NATO Bases,” by Alberto Nardelli, Henry Meyer and Jennifer Jacobs AP → “Putin accuses US, allies of ignoring Russian security needs,” by Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Matthew Lee in D.C. Politico → “Why Lindsey Graham is going all-in on Biden SCOTUS pick,” by Burgess Everett PRESENTED BY CLIMATE POWER Right now, Congress has a major opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs and lower utility costs for working families by making a major investment in clean energy. Across party lines, the American people are united in support of investments that create clean energy jobs (78%) and taking action to address climate change (73%). Clean energy jobs are jobs that people can raise a family on, anywhere in America — Union jobs for electricians, pipefitters, roofers, welders, teachers and engineers. These are good-paying, secure jobs that can’t be outsourced, from big cities to small towns, suburbs and rural communities. If we do this right: we will lower utility costs for working families, take on climate change, and power America with clean energy — which will never run out. If we fail: it means fewer jobs, more extreme weather, and allowing China and other countries to gain the edge. ![]() 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.