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01/20/2023

Republicans Announce New Members on Key Congressional Committees

VGM Government Relations News

 

The following article was published in VGM Government Relations list-serve on Jan. 13, 2023.  OAMES would like to thank the VGM Government Relations team for this important analysis and looks forward to working together in 2023:

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, the United States House Republican Select Committee met to announce the new Republican members appointed to various committees in the House. For the DME industry, there are three key committees of justification to work with. 

The following listed below are new members who have been appointed to the committees. It is going to be important for VGM members and industry stakeholders to build strong relationships at the grassroots level with each of these Congressional members as they assume their duties.   

To note, House Democrats are waiting on House leadership of both parties to agree on ratios of each committee to know how many members will drop from, or be added to, committees. We expect more information in the weeks ahead and will keep everyone updated as the Democrats announce their committee members. 

The Senate Finance Committee has yet to solidify its membership for this Congress, a process that could still take some time with the Senate out until Jan. 23. The GOP side of the panel is expected to add Senators after seeing a handful of retirements at the end of last year, and Democrats' ranks could grow as well now that the party has a true Senate majority. 

See below for an update on committees provided by CQ-Roll Call. 

WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE 

House Republicans tapped 10 members Wednesday to join the Ways and Means Committee this year, adding new representation on their side of the panel for states like New York, California, and Ohio. 

The 10 lawmakers gain seats that give them significant influence over the tax code, trade policy, Medicare, Social Security, and social services programs. 

The Republicans selected by the party’s steering committee and set to join Ways and Means are: 

ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE 

House Republicans added nine new members to the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, including a handful of members with significant health policy experience. 

The committee, the oldest standing legislative committee in the House of Representatives, has broad jurisdiction over telecommunications, consumer protection, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce. 

It's also one of the main healthcare committees in the House, with jurisdiction over Medicaid, mental health, substance abuse, health insurance, medical research, the FDA, and pandemic preparedness issues. 

The Republicans selected by the party’s steering committee and set to join Energy and Commerce are: 

APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 

The House Appropriations Committee has added ten new Republican members, the committee announced. House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, said subcommittee chairs would be decided “soon” but not on Wednesday. A handful of senior appropriators need waivers to continue to lead their preferred subcommittees.  

The other new GOP appropriators are:  

For the 118th Congress, the key industry house committees (W&M, E&C, and Appropriations) had a large turnover of the key industry house committees (W&M, E&C, and Appropriations). Once committee ratios are established, there could be a few more added from the Democrat party side. We have 29 new committee members to meet with and build grassroots relationships with.  

To accommodate this, the VGM Government Relations team will work with state associations over the next six months to set up meetings around scheduled state conferences. Some states such as Texas, Ohio, Florida, and Iowa have multiple new members added to the committees. Grassroots relationship building is a key step to being proactive in either stopping negative, or passing positive, legislation going forward.   

Please review the various committee lists and see if your member of Congress is listed. You may find that you do not reside in the legislator's district, but you may find that some of the patients you serve do. We want to work with the Grassroots Accountability Project (GAP), where we have at least one provider in contact with each Congressional district and member of Congress. 

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