Advocacy at a Glance

Advocacy at a Glance offers you the bullet point summary of current advocacy issues associated with the goals of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.

• Will Congress Complete Appropriations in the Post-Recess Session? With the fate of Ag/FDA appropriations at stake, we addressed this question in an earlier (and longer) Analysis and Commentary (here). Our conclusion (then, as now) is that anything can happen, with the two major variables being “who controls the House and the Senate” and “will other appropriations bills be allowed to move before there is agreement on homeland security and border funding.”

• FDA Could Be Funded Under a CR Until at Least February 2019. If Congress deadlocks on appropriations, then FDA will continue to be funded under a Continuing Resolution until the new Congress can address spending issues.. Under a CR, FDA is largely limited to continuation of activities that were part of the FY 18 FDA budget/workplan. In practice, there is some leeway, but the agency has to be able to justify its spending decisions against the metric that a CR, quite literally, provides for continuation of programs and not more.

• Next Congress: Changes Coming. With a large number of House and Senate Members not on the ballot next week, there is guaranteed to be major turn-over in the 116th Congress. Once the ballots are counted, there is a likelihood of many more changes. We explore the implications for FDA funding in this week’s Analysis and Commentary.

• Upcoming Alliance Briefings by FDA Officials.  We are working on a late November/early December meeting downtown with Center for Veterinary Medicine Director Steve Solomon. The work of most Alliance members is touched directly or indirectly by CVM activities because they are “a microcosm of FDA, with activities in veterinary pharmaceuticals, stem cells, veterinary devices, animal and human food safety, antimicrobial resistance, research, and outbreak response.” In past years, the CVM briefing has been among the most interesting ... and the most surprising. Alliance members and media should let us know of their interest in attending by e-mailing Steven Grossman. We will follow up when a date is set.