Elections have consequences and one them is that the locus of political power can undergo significant transformations. A shift from President Donald Trump’s occupancy of the White House to having former Vice President Joseph Biden become the next resident in January 2021 will have a major impact on what transpires in the new 117th Congress. Another important influence on what will occur there will depend on the outcome of two U.S. Senate races that are scheduled for January 5 in Georgia. Democrats will need both seats in order to attain the magic number 50. Once it is reached, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will become the tie-breaking vote. If Republicans are successful in retaining just one of those two seats, they will remain in control of the Senate, which will have a dramatic effect on the extent to which President-Elect Biden and his Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives are able to have their desired legislative objectives enacted into law.
The next page of this newsletter provides some details of policy initiatives that Democrats have expressed a strong interest in achieving in the next session of Congress, such as additional pandemic aid, creating a government-run public insurance option, and lowering the Medicare-eligibility age to 60. A major function of Congress is to produce legislative bills in both chambers. Competition to reach the enactment stage is brisk as reflected in what occurred during 2019-2020 in the 116th Congress as of November 18, 2020.
Prior to reaching agreement on the size of another package of financial aid in response to COVID-19, Congress found it necessary to agree on legislation to provide funding to prevent a federal government shutdown at the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2020. Legislators were successful in doing so by producing a $1.4 trillion stopgap spending measure to fund the federal government at current levels through December 11, 2020. Still pending is the necessity of completing work on the 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021. A convenient way of doing so would be to agree to pass an omnibus appropriations package to fund the government through the end of September 2021.
An unknown when this article was written on November 17 is whether any members of Congress will become members of President-Elect Biden’s cabinet or take positions in government agencies. Apart from the upcoming Senate races in Georgia, it remains too soon to know the exact composition of both legislative chambers at the start of the next session of Congress in January.
More November 2020 TRENDS Articles
COVID-19: A DELICATE COEVOLUTIONARY DANCE
Discusses how an evolutionary perspective can advance understanding of the relationship between this virus and the human race. Read More
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Looks at factors that will affect legislation and health policy outcomes as a new Administration is poised to occupy the White House in January 2021. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Point out the impact that the coronavirus has had on health policy, along with some observations of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Affordable Care Act and what to expect from a Biden Administration. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes the volume and repayment of federal student education loans and the degree to which racial disparities have an impact on debt burdens. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Chronic Pain And High-Impact Chronic Pain Among U.S. Adults: 2019
Black, Hispanic Patients Hospitalized For COVID-19 At Disproportionately High Rates
Exploration Of The Link Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Autoimmune Disease
Pre-Recorded Audio Messages Help Improve Outcomes For Patients With Heart Failure Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
State Of Lung Cancer In The U.S.
A Global Grand Challenge Of Achieving Healthy Human Longevity
U.S. Maternal Death Rates Are The Highest Among Wealthy Countries Read More
POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCE AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Examines how dynamics of this disease indicate that population health is best served by thinking dimensionally across a range of health indicators, expanding the focus beyond clearly defined categorical outcomes. Read More
MOVING FROM A GERM THEORY OF DISEASE TO THE MICROBIAL THEORY OF HEALTH
Pertains to a shift regarding the role of microbes in disease and health that necessitates a change in the approaches taken to design targeted infection control. Read More