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American Dental Education Association


Volume 3, No. 66, January 23, 2025

The New Congress Agenda Begins to Take Shape
 
Earlier this week, President Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. This edition of the ADEA Advocate “went to press” prior to that event and we will report on the several actions that the new president was expected to take on “day one” that are of interest to oral health education in the next edition.
 
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), Speaker of the House, announced the legislative schedule for the first major piece of legislation of the 119th Congress—a reconciliation bill. Congress established a process in the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act to provide a mechanism whereby the Congress could make changes to revenue and spending targets to meet changing fiscal goals.
 
The process establishes a mechanism that ensures Congress may enact legislation by providing special rules that would apply to a reconciliation bill. These special rules meet certain criteria allowing them to qualify for limited debate and passage with a majority vote in the U.S. Senate.
 
As expected, the Republican majority in Congress has set an aggressive timeline for a reconciliation bill to address the various tax provisions expiring at the end of 2025, border security and energy policy. The new timeline would have the bill on the President’s desk before Easter on April 20. This is an aggressive timeline for reconciliation because during the same period Congress will also have to come to agreement on the fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding bills by March 14.
 
The Speaker stated that, on Feb. 3, he will release the text of budget resolution, which is the first step in the reconciliation process, which will set the fiscal goals and contain reconciliation instructions for various committees to produce legislation that increases or decreases revenue and spending to achieve those goals. The various pieces of legislation will be brought together into a comprehensive reconciliation bill for consideration. The Senate will produce its own budget resolution, and those two measures will have to be reconciled into a final set of fiscal goals that will be the groundwork for reconciliation legislation.

Judge Issues Final Ruling Against Biden’s Title IX Regulations
 
A federal judge in Kentucky last week struck down President Biden’s effort to expand protections for transgender students and make other changes to the rules governing sex discrimination in schools, ruling that the Department of Education (ED) had overstepped and violated teachers’ rights by requiring them to use students’ preferred pronouns.
 
The ruling, which extends nationwide, came as a major blow to the Biden administration in its effort to provide new safeguards for LGBTQ and pregnant students, among others, through Title IX. It arrived just days before those protections were likely to face more scrutiny under a Trump administration that is expected to refuse to defend them in court.
 
In a 15-page opinion [ [link removed] ] , Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky wrote that the ED could not lawfully expand the definition of Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, as it had proposed last year.
 
“The entire point of Title IX is to prevent discrimination based on sex,” he wrote. “Throwing gender identity into the mix eviscerates the statute and renders it largely meaningless.”
 
The changes ran into immediate opposition from Republican states that filed legal challenges, including one brought by Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia that led to the decision last week. Through that case and others, the rule had been temporarily blocked in 26 states, while state attorneys general and policy groups opposing the changes fought the ED over their specifics.
 
Judge Reeves definitively ruled against the Biden administration, listing several reasons.
 
Citing the Supreme Court’s sweeping decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo last year, which limited the regulatory power of federal agencies, Judge Reeves wrote that the Biden administration had overstepped when it sought to enforce its new interpretation of Title IX through federal rulemaking.
 
But more significantly, Judge Reeves also rejected the revised rule on free-speech grounds, writing that it “offends the First Amendment” by potentially requiring educators to use names and pronouns associated with a student’s chosen gender identity.
 
“Put simply, the First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner,” he wrote.
 
Lastly, he firmly rejected the ED’s position [ [link removed] ] that the protections for gay and transgender workers against workplace discrimination, established in the Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, should also apply in schools.

NIH Director Resigns
 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., announced [ [link removed] ] that she will resign on Jan. 17, ending her tenure as the head of NIH after only a year.
 
Dr. Bertagnolli expressed a desire to have had more input in shaping GOP plans to overhaul the agency. While she does not support extreme proposals like consolidating the NIH’s divisions or firing large numbers of staff, she sees value in a thoughtful reevaluation of how the agency approaches health care breakthroughs. Dr. Bertagnolli has had positive discussions with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who chairs the Senate committee overseeing the NIH, and had hoped for similar collaboration with House Republicans.
 
However, Dr. Bertagnolli disagreed with proposals to consolidate the agency’s structure and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s suggestion to fire NIH staff. She defended the agency's workforce, highlighting their expertise and the difficulty of making such changes due to civil service employee protections. Dr. Bertagnolli hopes her successor will maintain NIH’s skilled staff and continue making progress on improving the agency.
 
President-elect Trump has nominated his own NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University health economist, who could spearhead some of the major restructuring efforts Dr. Bertagnolli worked to head off.

Lawsuit Challenges Alabama Anti-DEI Law
 
Professors, students and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP have filed a federal lawsuit [ [link removed] ] challenging Alabama’s recently passed [ [link removed] ] anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion law. The lawsuit argues that SB 129 restricts the teaching and learning of topics related to race, gender, structural inequality and social justice, creating confusion and fear on college campuses. Some key points from the case include [ [link removed] ] :
 • First Amendment concerns: Allegations of censorship and restrictions on speech and information access;
 • 14th Amendment Issues: Claims of vagueness leading to denial of due process and intentional discrimination against Black faculty and students;
 • Impact on Student Organizations: Instances of the Black Student Union and LGBTQIA student groups losing funding or meeting spaces; and
 • Broader Campus Effects: Reports of actions such as removing a poster celebrating women scientists due to concerns about compliance with SB 129.

The complaint names Gov. Kay Ivey (R) and members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, marking the first lawsuit we’ve seen challenging anti-DEI policies. ADEA will continue to monitor this case and provide updates.

Massachusetts Governor Signs Bill Allowing Foreign-trained Dentists to Work as Dental Hygienists
 
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed legislation [ [link removed] ] that will allow foreign-trained dentists who meet specified criteria to work as dental hygienists in the state. Under the bill, foreign-trained dentists who have practiced for at least five years in a foreign province may practice as dental hygienists if they present to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry a certificate of registration and duration of practice from another country’s board of dental examiners or other like registration entity. The foreign jurisdiction must also require a degree of competency equal to that required of applicants in the commonwealth, as determined by the Board.

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ADEA Advocacy in Action
This appears weekly in the ADEA Advocate to summarize and provide direct links to recent advocacy actions taken by ADEA. Please let us know what you think and how we might improve its usefulness.
 
Issues and Resources
 • ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on teledentistry
 • ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
 • ADEA policy brief [ [link removed] ] regarding overprescription of antibiotics
 • For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click here [ [link removed] ] .

Key Federal Issues [ [link removed] ]

ADEA U.S. Interactive Legislative and Regulatory Tracking Map [ [link removed] ]

Key State Issues [ [link removed] ]

The ADEA Advocate [ [link removed] ] is published weekly. Its purpose is to keep ADEA members abreast of federal and state issues and events of interest to the academic dentistry and the dental and research communities.
 
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American Dental Education Association
655 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001
Tel: 202-289-7201
Website: www.adea.org [ [link removed] ]

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B. Timothy Leeth, CPA
ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer
 
Bridgette DeHart, J.D.
ADEA Director of Federal Relations and Advocacy
 
Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.
ADEA Senior Director of State Relations and Advocacy
 
Contact Us:
[email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ]

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