Former US House Speaker Paul Ryan recently pointed out that Congress has a clear ability to block a federal nursing home staffing mandate — if it has the collective will to do so.
“The Congressional Review Act gives us [Congress] the ability to pass a law that says that the minimum staffing rule is repealed because it was a bad rule,” said Ryan during a keynote presentation at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) conference in October. “It can’t be filibustered in the Senate. If it passes in the Senate, it happens and it goes away, no matter who the president is. That kind of stuff can happen.”
He noted that aligned interests need to control Congress and certain circumstances need to fall into place for that to happen.
“But you can repeal recent rules if you have Congress,” he said. “So there’s a lot you can do.”
Ryan also expressed his disdain for the Biden administration’s proposed staffing mandate.
“Even the Obama administration didn’t do that,” he said with a shake of the head.
From the December 2023 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
