Senate Hearing on Foreign Influence in Biomedical Research

Posted on April 16, 2021

The US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will convene a hearing titled Protecting U.S. Biomedical Research: Efforts to Prevent Undue Foreign Influence.

Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021

Time: 10:00am ET (7:00am PT)

Witnesses:

Michael Lauer, MD, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health
Lisa Aguirre, Acting Director, Office of National Security, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Gary L. Cantrell, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Candice N. Wright, Acting Director, Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Watch live here.

Becerra Confirmed as HHS Secretary

Posted on March 18, 2021

By a vote of 50 – 49 in the Senate earlier this afternoon, Xavier Becerra, former Representative and Attorney General of California, was confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Read more about the nomination and the vote here and here.

Haaland Confirmed as Interior Secretary

Posted on March 16, 2021

Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico was confirmed last evening as Secretary of Interior. With her confirmation, she becomes the first Native American to serve as Cabinet Secretary.

Read more about her, her confirmation, and some of the challenges she faces in her new role here, here, and here. She is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday.

Garland Confirmed as Attorney General

Posted on March 10, 2021

While the House was working on the COVID package, the Senate was working on Biden Administration nominations today. By a vote of 70 to 30, the Senate confirmed Merrick Garland as the new Attorney General.

You can read more about Garland and the confirmation process here, here, and here.

House Clears COVID Relief Bill, Sends It to Biden for Signature

Posted on March 10, 2021

Earlier this afternoon, the House adopted by a vote of 220 to 211 H. R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This is the version that was approved by the Senate last Saturday. The legislation, the highest priority of the new Administration, will now be sent to the White House for President Biden’s signature. The goal of the Biden Administration and the Democratic Congress alike was to get signed into law a new relief package before the enhanced federal unemployment benefits expire at the end of Sunday.

A summary of the provisions of most interest has been compiled by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and is available here.