GOP won’t force a vote to overturn nursing home staffing rule

Republicans are not planning to force a vote on a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s plan mandating minimum staffing levels in nursing homes, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said.  

A resolution under the Congressional Review Act isn’t subject to the 60-vote filibuster and needs only a simple majority of votes. The CRA is a fast-track legislative tool that allows lawmakers to nullify rules even after the executive branch has completed them. 

Resolutions have been introduced in both chambers. The Lankford-led Senate measure has bipartisan support from Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and would likely pass.

But since President Biden would veto it, Lankford said the CRA wouldn’t accomplish anything.  

“Whether a CRA passes or not, the problem is still sitting there,” Lankford told The Hill. “The goal is not just to be able to pass the CRA. The goal is to be able to stop that policy implementation. That’s what we’re working towards.”

Under the requirements unveiled in April, all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid will need to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days per week and provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day.

The senators argue the mandate won’t fix workforce shortage problems or solve care quality problems and will force many rural nursing homes to shut their doors.  

They also say that say any federal standard is unfeasible because of a nationwide staffing shortage made worse by the pandemic.

But a CRA vote would also give Tester, one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrats, an opportunity to separate himself from the Biden administration. 

Lankford said there are other options on the table, including using a year-end funding bill to stop the administration from implementing the policy.

Even without a congressional resolution, the staffing mandate is facing a lawsuit filed in Texas by the industry trade group American Health Care Association.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Amarillo. The district court there has only one judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk. 

An appointee of former President Trump, he is the same judge who suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone and has ruled against the Biden administration on several other issues, including immigration and LGBTQ protections.