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Before the new Congress begins in January, the current Congress will be back in session for the rest of this year, with several possible health-related issues to address.
The details:
- Funding bill: Any health care legislation that gets done this year would almost certainly have to be part of the funding bill, which Congress needs to pass by December 11. There is likely to be debate about whether to support a long-term funding bill that could include policies like delaying Medicaid cuts and restoring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies or supporting a short-term bill that runs just a few months. The funding bill could include several health extensions, such as funding for community health centers, but these will be more difficult because the administration used money from the Medicare Improvement Fund to give Medicare beneficiaries a one-time $90 payment.
- Hemp rule: The funding bill negotiations will include a fight over whether to delay the ban on intoxicating hemp products from going into effect. The September funding bill delayed implementation until that funding bill expires December 11, but some members of the administration and Congress are trying to again prevent the ban from going into effect, looking instead for a regulatory framework.
- Grant rule: Funding bill negotiations will also include discussion of whether to finalize the administration’s plan to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants. The September funding bill also included a provision preventing this plan from being finalized, so lawmakers will have to decide whether to include such a provision again.
- Nominations: Republicans will also want to confirm several Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominees before control of Congress flips. That includes Heidi Overton, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner nominee; Nicole Saphier, the surgeon general nominee; and Timothy Westlake, the nominee to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Read more: A looming deadline to fund the government will shape Congress’ unusual lame duck session; Republicans’ last change to cement their legacy in Trump’s Washington; Congress’s packed year-end health agenda
Published
November 2026