Energy & Commerce chair preview: McMorris Rodgers
- Maya Goldman, author ofAxios Vitals
McMorris Rodgers speaks at the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda summit in July. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Likely committee chair: Cathy McMorris Rodgers, current ranking member of Energy & Commerce
What she’d do: Oversight is a priority for Rodgers, an E&C Republican aide told Axios — so expect a lot of investigations.
- Her main targets: COVID-19’s origins, the administration’s COVID-19 response and HHS implementation of Medicare drug price negotiation.
- McMorris Rodgers also wants the committee to focus on reauthorizing federal health care agencies where authorizations have expired. According to a 2020 report from the Congressional Budget Office, 282 authorizations of appropriations that fall under E&C had expired.
- She also wants to address the fentanyl crisis.
What we know about her: McMorris Rodgers is vocal about veterans' health care issues and rural health care, as well as her displeasure with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response. She also championed E&C’s bipartisan mental health package earlier this year.
- Heritage Action gave McMorris Rodgers an 82% conservatism score in the 117th Congress.
Health care donors: Her top contributors in the last year included the New York Cancer & Blood Specialists and Blue Cross Blue Shield, according to OpenSecrets.
- She received $518,868 from health professionals in 2021-2022 and $441,995 from the pharmaceutical and health products industry.
One fun thing: McMorris Rodgers had all three of her children while in office!