Politics
NEW: Top Democrat Flips, Endorses Key Trump Executive Order On House Floor
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced legislation on Wednesday to enshrine President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting prescription drug prices into law.
The president announced via Truth Social post this past Sunday that he would sign an executive order mandating pharmaceutical giants to slash their prices on prescription drugs. Trump argued that said companies were passing all costs on to American citizens by charging exuberant prices stateside for the same drugs that are sold at lower costs in foreign countries.
“We are going to do the right thing, something that the Democrats have fought for many years,” the president wrote. “Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Tomorrow morning, in the White House, at 9:00 A.M., I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history. Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%.”
Trump further noted that drug prices will rise throughout the world, “and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
The order has drawn a number of unlikely allies from the left, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who introduced legislation to codify the president’s order into law. “I support @realDonaldTrump effort to ensure Americans do not pay more for drugs than those in other countries,” Khanna wrote in an X post.
While speaking on the House floor, Khanna formally endorsed Trump’s “Most Favored Nation” policy and introduced the bill. “My legislation will codify President Trump’s executive order, which basically says that Americans should not pay more for drugs than people in other countries and other parts of the world. Right now we’re paying two to three times more for our drugs than people in other industrialized nations,” he said.
“Now, this executive order codified by the legislation will allow our cabinet secretaries to put pressure on big pharma and make sure that they are not price gouging and will allow for the importation of cheaper drugs.”
Khanna went on to note that Trump’s order will almost certainly face legal challenges and could ultimately be defeated, much like similar orders issued during the president’s first time in office.
“The only way we can stand up to Big Pharma is to codify in legislation what the president wants to do in an executive order,” the House Democrat continued. So here’s the deal; if I can cross the aisle and support President Trump’s executive order in legislation, every Republican should be willing to cross the aisle and support my legislation.”
The bill will likely face an uphill battle, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) have opposed government-directed price controls on pharmaceuticals in the past. Thune said Monday that Trump’s executive order would be “fairly controversial” if introduced on Capitol Hill, highlighting the Republican Party’s divide on the issue.
Despite skepticism from some corners of the Republican Party, Thune acknowledged Trump’s “passion” on lowering costs for Americans. “He clearly wants lower drug prices and it’s something, I think — like a lot of other issues — that he’s had a passion about and believed in for a long time,” he said.
