We spent Monday and today catching up with members now that they’re back in town. Let’s see how our preview from Monday on the lame duck agenda is holding up.

One thing we were right about: Lawmakers are bullish on averting Medicare physician cuts.

• “We’re going to address that,” House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal told Peter. But asked if the full 4.5% physician cut would be averted, he demurred, saying: “We're going to talk about that in the next 15 minutes,” as he walked to a meeting.
• “I think it has to get done,” Ami Bera, a California Democrat and physician, told Maya in the hall today. “I think everyone understands we have to do it.” (Bera and fellow House doctor Larry Bucshon introduced a bill in September to stop the physician cuts.)
• Rep. Buddy Carter told Victoria that “there’s a lot of momentum for it,” particularly among the GOP Doctors Caucus, of which he’s a member.

FDA reforms are up in the air: Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie told us “We’re going to fight for all the bipartisan ones that got out of the House.”

• The House bill had several bipartisan provisions, including accelerated approval reform and clinical trial diversity standards, but Guthrie seemed skeptical about what could actually get through the Senate.

And how is the FDA reform push going over in the Senate? Sens. Patty Murray and Richard Burr said they were working on it ... but that’s about it.

We’re also watching: Maternal health legislation has a shot at ending up in the end-of-year package — at least if policy champions Robin Kelly and Lauren Underwood have anything to say about it.

• The House Democrats ramped up advocacy today around maternal and child health policies, including a requirement that states cover 12 months of continuous postpartum Medicaid coverage, as well as permanent funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• Leadership supports the policies, but it comes down to making sure they’re not forgotten on the cutting room floor this time, Underwood told Maya.
• “We do not want this to get missed as they're working on the final finishing touches,” she said.

Drug pricing is still on Democrats’ minds, too.

• “We're very much concerned about getting the maximum amount of relief from these crushing insulin prices,” Sen. Ron Wyden said Monday night when asked about his top lame duck health care priorities.

Top GOP appropriator Sen. Richard Shelby isn't sold on the White House's pitch for roughly $10 billion to fight COVID-19 in the end-of-year package.

What they’re saying: “It's not just me, it’s a lot of us up here they haven’t convinced,” Shelby told Peter.

• He pointed to the money that Congress has already appropriated on COVID-19.
• The new money would go to priorities like research on next-generation vaccines that better fight a range of variants.

💭 Our thought bubble: The White House’s requests on COVID aid for months haven’t been going very far, as the public urgency lessens. If this time is going to be any different, Democrats are going to have to make a harder push and make it a priority in end-of-year negotiations.

Sen. Bernie Sanders told Peter he will discuss whether he will chair the HELP Committee next year “in a few days.” (The expected answer is yes.)

• Sen. Rand Paul said he will discuss his choice between HELP and HSGAC ranking member “in the next day or two.” Maybe they’ll make a joint announcement!
• We’re also told that the Republican Steering Committee will likely vote to decide who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee the week after Thanksgiving. The new members of the Republican Steering Committee will be finalized this week.

When Caitlin Owens asked Republicans who currently has former President Trump's ear on health policy, some of them literally laughed — he isn't exactly focused on health care right now.

Yes, but: As Trump gets ready for his "very big" announcement tonight, there's an entire think tank of people who are primed to have his ear on a host of issues, including health care if and when its time comes.

• And there's a larger universe of conservative or right-of-center policy people jockeying for influence over the party's future health ambitions.

Where it stands: A bunch of former Trump administration officials or Trump allies have landed at the America First Policy Institute, and some sources said it's generally best primed to advise the former president on policy issues.

• Its health care team is led by former Gov. Bobby Jindal as well as Heidi Overton, who was a White House fellow at the Domestic Policy Council under Trump.
• Trump himself gave a speech at the think tank this summer, touching on drugs, addiction and transgender athletes.

The big picture: Other Trump alums are trying to have a broader influence on health policy without being attached to a candidate.

• Joe Grogan, director of the DPC under Trump, described himself as currently candidate-agnostic but working on conservative health policies that could eventually be adopted by anyone.
• "Right now our approach is just to develop health care reforms that are consistent with free market principles, and I don’t care who adopts them," said Brian Blase, who served on Trump's National Economic Council and is now president of the Paragon Health Institute.
• “I think we’re trying to address a void in the free market community to develop innovative health reforms.”