On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, former President Trump was reelected with 312 electoral votes, flipping the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, won by President Biden in 2020. President-Elect Trump eclipsed his 2020 vote total and currently leads in the national popular vote with 75.8M votes (50.2%) compared to Harris’ 72.8M votes (48.2%).

Republicans have also gained control in the Senate and now hold 53 seats compared to Democrats’ 47 seats. Republicans flipped four seats that were previously held by Democrats or Democrat-aligned Independents.

Montana: Tim Sheehy (R) defeated incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D).

Ohio: Bernie Moreno (R) defeated incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D).

Pennsylvania: Dave McCormick (R) is projected to defeat incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D). The race is currently undergoing a recount as McCormick leads Casey by just under 30,000 votes.

West Virginia: Jim Justice (R) defeated Glenn Elliot (D) to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin’s (I) retirement.

New Senators were also elected in Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Utah, though these seats remained in control of the party that previously held them.

Republicans also retained a slim majority in the House and will hold at least 218 seats, though several House races remain uncalled. A notable flip for Republicans is Tom Barrett’s (R) victory over Chris Hertel (D) in MI-7 to fill the seat vacated by Elissa Slotkin (D) for her successful Senate bid.

With JD Vance’s election as Vice President, there will be an Ohio Senate vacancy that will be filled by an appointment from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R). President Trump has also indicated he will be nominating several Members of Congress to senior positions in his administration, including Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Elsie Stefanik (R-NY) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). If confirmed, these vacancies will need to be filled in accordance with individual state procedures.

AACOM will provide a full breakdown of college of osteopathic medicine congressional representation in the 119th Congress, including new Representatives and Senators in a forthcoming issue of the OME Advocate.

This week, we celebrate National Rural Health Day and AACOM’s perpetual commitment to improving healthcare for rural and underserved communities. The legislation that AACOM spearheaded to strengthen rural health, Community Training, Education, and Access for Medical Students (Community TEAMS) Act, H.R. 7258/S. 3968, continues to gain traction, with Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) recently cosponsoring the bill and five more organizations signing on to AACOM’s coalition support letter. The Community TEAMS Act significantly expands clinical training opportunities in rural and underserved communities, strengthening the physician workforce pipeline and leading to greater healthcare access in areas that need it most. Join us in urging your Members of Congress to cosponsor the Community TEAMS Act.

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The bipartisan Fair Access In Residency (FAIR) Act, H.R. 751, also gained a new cosponsor, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA). The FAIR Act addresses the physician workforce shortage by ensuring Medicare-funded graduate medical education parity, increasing the availability of licensed DO physicians in underserved areas. With more than 73 percent of DOs practicing in the state where they do residency training, the bill improves rural and primary care access by eliminating barriers to medical residency.

• Senator John Thune (R-SD) emerged as the new Republican leader, edging out colleagues John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rick Scott (R-FL) after a series of secret ballots on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. In the final vote, Senator Thune defeated Senator Cornyn 29-24.
• Senator Thune will assume the Majority Leader role in the 119th Congress after Senator McConnell (R-KY) announced earlier this year that he was stepping down from his Senate Republican leadership position after 18 years. Senate Democrats have not yet held their leadership elections.
• Last week, President-Elect Trump met with President Biden in the Oval Office and with House Republicans near Capitol Hill. While most of the two-hour meeting at the White House was closed to reporters, the two did publicly agree to a “smooth transition.”
• The meeting with House Republicans was also closed, but the Conference renominated Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker. President-Elect Trump endorsed Speaker Johnson, who faces re-election as House Leader in the new Congress in January.

• Senator Cassidy (R-LA), the current Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced on Thursday, November 14, 2024, that he would chair that committee in the 119th Congress when Republicans take control of the Senate.
• Senator Cassidy is a gastroenterologist and is one of the few physicians to chair the HELP Committee. His bipartisan history and his work as Ranking Member in the 118th Congress on such issues National Institutes of Health (NIH) reform may inform his role in the next Congress. AACOM submitted comments in October 2023 in response to Senator Cassidy’s request for information regarding modernizing the NIH.

• President-Elect Trump has announced his intention to nominate former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• Trump emphasized that, "The safety and health of all Americans is the most important responsibility of any administration, and HHS will play a central role in that effort."
• Kennedy’s nomination to lead HHS will require Senate confirmation, with Republicans currently holding a 53-47 majority.

Register for NIH HEAL Pain Initiative NOFO Pre-Application Webinar: Join the NIH on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM ET, for a pre-application webinar for the NIH Heal Pain Research Initiative (RFA-NS-25-023) notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). This NOFO encourages research grant applications for initial translational efforts that will enable a drug discovery program for novel, non-opioid and non-addictive treatments for pain. Register.

Apply for the NIH Extramural Repayment Program: NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) repay up to $50,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. The deadline to apply is November 21, 2024. Learn more.

NIH Minority Health and Health Disparities Virtual Town Halls: Individuals, healthcare clinicians, researchers and community advocates are invited to share their lived experiences, perspectives and ideas on how NIH can continue to improve minority health and reduce health disparities at a town hall on December 6, 2024, from 1:00-3:00 PM ET. Register. Participants are also encouraged to provide input for the NIH Minority Health and Health Disparities Strategic Plan, 2026-2030 by December 31. Access the online form.

Apply to FY25 HCCN Cooperative Agreements HRSA Grant Opportunity: Apply for fiscal year 2025 Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) Cooperative Agreements by December 2, 2024. HCCNs need to demonstrate how health IT and data is leveraged to improve primary healthcare delivery. Learn more.