Senate

McConnell tees up medical cures bill

by Jordain Carney - 12/01/16 4:21 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is turning attention toward a medical innovation bill that is receiving pushback from liberals.

The Kentucky Republican teed up an initial test vote for Monday evening, when backers of the bill will need 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

{mosads}The legislation seeks to speed up the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of new drugs and bolster medical research. It also ties in bipartisan efforts on mental health, opioid funding and Vice President Biden’s cancer “moonshot.”

The bill sailed through the House on Wednesday by a vote of 392-26.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who helped spearhead the legislation, called the House vote an “unmistakable sign” that the Senate should pass the bill.

“I look forward to a successful vote in the Senate next week, so we can send this legislation to the White House where the president has his pen ready to sign it,” Alexander said after McConnell’s move on the Senate floor.

But the bill has come under fire from the Senate’s liberal wing, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who argue it’s a giveaway to pharmaceutical companies.

Warren took to the Senate floor twice this week to decry the bill and sent an email to progressive supporters saying the proposal had been “hijacked by Big Pharma and big Republican donors.”

Though the legislation is ultimately expected to get enough support to pass, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has acknowledged “angst” within the Democrat caucus and indicated talks about the bill will stretch into next week.

Tags Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Harry Reid Lamar Alexander Mitch McConnell