What’s Next In Washington? – October 2022 Edition – Government Contracts, Procurement & PPP

The 2022 Midterm Elections are a little over one month away and
the races are tightening up. Democrats have seen their fortunes
improve with a string of legislative victories and improving poll
numbers for President Joe Biden. Republicans have continued to
message on economic concerns and see a favorable electoral map as
their key to victory. As the final sprint begins, we’ve
provided an overview of the most competitive House, Senate, and
Gubernatorial races this election cycle. We have also provided an
update on government funding, energy permitting, and FDA User Fee
reauthorization.

See below for greater detail on key issues and more of
what’s to come in this month’s edition of What’s
Next in Washington? presented by the Foley & Lardner
Federal Public Affairs team.

House, Senate, and Gubernatorial race ratings come from FiveThirtyEight Election Forecasts and Cook
Political Report.

Previewing Competitive House Races

Democrats currently control the House of Representatives 221
– 212. After losing seats in the 2020 election, Democrats
held on to a slim majority in the House. Republicans need to net
five seats in the House to flip control. Listed in alphabetical
order below are the most competitive House races in the 2022 cycle.
Key events, including that of inflation and economic concerns, in
addition to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v.
Jackson Women’s Health Organization, have pushed many
races into the “Toss-up” category. Additionally, one of
the most the key states that will determine control of the House is
California. California has multiple toss-up and close races that
could result in seat pick-ups for each party. You can learn more
about the California House races here.

Previewing Competitive Senate Races

The Senate is currently held by the Democrats in a 50-50 split,
with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie breaking vote. Below
are the 10 most competitive races this cycle listed in alphabetic
order. Key 2020 election swing states, including Arizona, Georgia,
Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all have a seat up for
election. Republicans need to net only one seat to flip the Senate
in their control. While Democrats see retiring Republican
incumbents in Biden-won states as their keys to retaining the upper
chamber.

Gubernatorial Race

Listed in order of most
competitive, 12 Governor races are highlighted below. A total of 36
governorships are up for election in 2022. Democrats are
anticipated to pick up two governorships in solid-Democrat states,
Gov. Charlie Baker (R) of Massachusetts is retiring and Gov. Larry
Hogan (R) of Maryland is term limited.

Congress Passes Short-Term Funding Bill

With hours to spare, Congress passed a continuing resolution
(CR) to fund the government through December 16^th, 2022.
This bill temporarily extends FY-2022 funding levels for anything
funded through the appropriations process. In addition, and among
other provisions, this bill:

• Provides $12 billion in emergency assistance for Ukraine.




• Injects $18 billion into FEMA’s disaster relief fund for
  various states recovering from natural disasters across the country
  (Florida, Alaska, and Puerto Rico).




• Includes $2 billion in Community Development Block Grants to
  help communities recovering from major disasters.




• Extends several HHS and Veterans Affairs programs.




• Reauthorizes the FDA’s user fees relating to drugs,
  devices, generic drugs, biosimilar biological products, and various
  other programs and grants.

It is also important to note what is absent from this CR.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) withdrew his energy permitting overhaul
proposal, the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2022, because it was an issue of contention for members in both
parties. Majority Leader Schumer had previously agreed to allow
this to be included in the CR in order to gain Manchin’s vote
for the Inflation Reduction Act. This may again get put on the
table for discussion during the lame duck session. You can read
more about Manchin’s proposal here.

The short-term funding bill reauthorizes user fee programs, but
unlike previous user fee packages, it does not include any of the
policy riders that were included in the House’s Food and Drug Amendments of 2022 or the
Senate’s FDA Safety and Landmark Advancements Act of
2022. It is yet to be determined which of the stripped policy
riders will be included in an omnibus package at the end of the
year. You can read more about reauthorization here.

After passing the CR, Leader Schumer announced that the Senate
would not reconvene until the second week of November, thus
canceling two weeks of October session. The House is not scheduled
to return until the third week of November.

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