What Does a New Congress Mean for Sepsis Advocacy?

The 118th Congress began its work in the beginning of January. You might be wondering: what does a new Congress mean for sepsis advocacy?  

There are a few changes happening with this new Congress, each of which impact our advocacy efforts to improve sepsis awareness and care. Learn more below: 

1. New makeup of health and budget committees. As new legislators are sworn in and former ones cycle out, the makeup of Congressional committees also changes. Committees relevant to sepsis include the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee, which have jurisdiction over sepsis-relevant pieces of legislation, like Lulu’s Law. Also relevant are the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, which are responsible for deciding what the discretionary budget gets spent on. 

Due to a delayed start in the Speaker of the House nomination process, Congress is now finalizing committee assignments to begin its important work. Sepsis Alliance will track all committee changes as they are announced and strategize our 2023 advocacy accordingly. 

2. New climate in Washington. The 118th Congress is a divided one, with a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives and a continued Democratic majority in the Senate. Most Americans associate divided government with unproductive gridlock. Still, bills that have already gained some bipartisan support, such as Lulu’s Law, may have opportunities to shine in this new climate. Sepsis advocates need to keep the pressure on Congress

3. New strategic investments. In late 2022 in its omnibus appropriations legislation, Congress set aside significant funding for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infectious disease work, including:  

• $197 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative (a $15 million increase); 
• $565 million for AMR research at the National Institutes of Health (a $25 million increase); 
• $293.2 million for CDC’s Global Health Protection work (a $40 million increase) 

Congress also allocated $750,000 to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to conduct studies on sepsis morbidity, readmissions, and mortality.  

These funding provisions are much-needed: they will help us to better understand sepsis through dedicated research and to fight some of its major infectious causes through prevention and treatment. This demonstrates that many Congress members are already eager to improve sepsis awareness and care. There is more to be done but, as we head into 2023, these investments provide sepsis advocates with strong momentum to build upon.  

4. New opportunities to educate. Each new Congress provides renewed opportunities for general sepsis education. New members may be learning about sepsis issues for the first time, or they may never have considered sepsis as a national public health crisis, which takes 350,000 lives annually. New members can also bring renewed energy to conversations around sepsis-relevant issues that have been going on in Congress for a long time. Every time sepsis advocates outreach to their representatives, they have a new opportunity to drive home a lifesaving message: Congress must act on sepsis to help save lives and limbs.  

Eager to learn more about sepsis advocacy and the new Congress? Sign up for updates from Sepsis Alliance Voices for the latest information and ways to get involved.