While Donald Trump’s victory has made world headlines, what may be less well known to our readers is that the election also gave Trump’s Republican Party majority control of both the House and the Senate. For the first time in many years, Republicans will control both the White House and Congress. This will make it easier for Trump to achieve his legislative goals. During his campaign, Trump made clear that these goals included repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”), of which the BPCIA is a part, and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.
Following up on our promise to keep a close watch on legislative developments affecting the BPCIA and TPP, we note today’s article in the New York Times, which reports that Congressional Republicans announced yesterday that they would “move quickly next year” to repeal the ACA. While not giving any specifics, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that repealing the ACA is “pretty high on our agenda,” and that he “would be shocked if we didn’t move forward and keep our commitment to the American people.”
Moreover, while TPP is on the table for now, Mr. McConnell dashed any remaining hopes for speedy ratification, stating that “[i]t’s certainly not going to be brought up this year,” before Trump takes office.
While it is far too early to predict whether or how the BPCIA or TPP may be affected by November 8th’s electoral earthquake, it appears that both Obamacare and TPP will be in the crosshairs of the Republican-led executive and legislative branches next year.
Stay tuned for further legislative developments at Big Molecule Watch.