There will be no Digest next week in observance of Memorial Day. Thank you to the brave men and women who serve, and have sacrificed so much, to ensure our safety. The digest will return on Monday June 2^nd.

A key component of federal advocacy is spending time on Capitol Hill, engaging with Congress, and helping our Congressional Members understand what’s really happening on the front lines. If you are a member of AHCA, please join their Congressional Briefing taking place on June 3^rd & 4^th in Washington, DC. For more information, and to register, please visit their Congressional briefing page.

WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on new efforts to encourage school attendance, a round-up of their efforts to increase energy efficiency, and an extension of the joint US-Canada “Energy Transformation Task Force” (ETTF). Three items of interest for us:

• They announced new tariffs on Chinese imports, including on medical products such as PPE, rubber gloves, and face masks. While not going into effect immediately, this can have a significant price increase on these items that are imported from China.

• On the second anniversary of the launch of the Global Health Worker Initiative, they provide an update on the progress that is being made. While primarily focused on health workers outside the United States, investments are being made to train new healthcare workers, which may be helpful on the staffing shortage.

• While not binding, they released, via the Department of Labor, a guide to “principles” to be incorporated into AI usage as it relates to workers. Several large companies have agreed to incorporate these principles as it relates to their workforce and others may follow. It’s a trend to monitor.

CONGRESS:

With Speaker Johnson in a more secure spot (for now), and the primary mover against him getting strong pushback following a rowdy Congressional hearing, attention now turns to one of the last remaining “must pass” pieces of legislation left, the farm bill. In general, these must-pass bills are often vehicles for other pieces of policy to get passed and are important to monitor. Additionally, on a practical level, there are several provisions in the bill that affect the long-term community, including nutritional programs for seniors, SNAP benefits that many residents and employees qualify for, and other programs for low-income beneficiaries. A summary of the bill can be found here (PDF). The deadline for the bill is September and, with yet another spending fight brewing, the outlook remains unclear. Elsewhere in the political world:

• Congresswoman Fischbach (R – MN) and Congressman Greg Pence (R – IN) introduced a Congressional Review Act that would overturn the minimum staffing rule. McKnight’s has a good summary of how it would work and the political challenges to actual passage. With time running out before the November election, Axios explored how the CRA would apply to the vast number of regulations issued by the Administration.

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s working group finally released their framework for federal AI regulation this week. The one-page summary can be found here (PDF). The full roadmap is here (PDF). NPR has a good breakdown.

• In the meantime, the battle over AI regulation has shifted to the states as both Connecticut and Colorado tried to create comprehensive legislation. While Connecticut’s isn’t going to move, Colorado passed their bill, which was signed into law by the Governor. A summary of the law can be found here.

• Vermont’s Legislature passed a new privacy law granting consumers the right to sue companies that violate the state’s data privacy laws, although it awaits the Governor’s signature. While a bit wonky, the story behind passing the legislation is interesting.

• With the federal government having announced more than $1.6 trillion in spending passed by Congress under the current Administration, Politico did a deep dive into how it’s being spent.

• With the formal recommendation by the DOJ to reclassify marijuana into a Schedule I drug (more below), the CRS updated their report to Congress on the interplay between federal and state laws as it relates to marijuana. You can access a copy here (PDF).

AGENCIES:

As we’ve mentioned previously, the Department of Justice officially moved to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, following a public announcement on X (formerly Twitter) by the President. A prepublication copy of the proposed rule can be found here (PDF). The legal guidance from their Office of the Legal Counsel can be found here (PDF).

HHS announced a new “Special Emphasis Notice” (PDF) grant that will fund, under the LEAP in Health IT program, up to $2 million for 2 projects that can help them identify ways to improve the usage of AI in health care setting. A constantly updated FAQ of questions related to the program can be found here. For more information and to apply, the grants page is here.

The OIG at HHS performed an audit on New Mexico’s recoveries of overpayments from their MCO programs, finding that the state left almost $120 million on the table that should be refunded to the federal government. New Mexico disagrees and maintains that they’ve recouped what they could. The summary can be found here (PDF). The full report is here (PDF).

A new lawsuit was filed in Maryland by five residents arguing that the survey system is too backlogged and is resulting in negative outcomes for residents.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation issued a comprehensive breakdown of the new final rule updating the antidiscrimination provisions of the ACA issued by HHS last month.

• An analysis of the politics behind the 10 remaining states that haven’t yet expanded Medicaid.

• NPR did a deep dive into California’s ambitious plan to transform the entire Medi-cal program.

• The Wall Street Journal examined the downswing in the Medicare Advantage market and how it’s becoming less profitable for insurers.

• A look at just how unprepared America is for the rapidly aging population.

• CNBC broke down the new rules from the Social Security Administration on SSI benefits.

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