Sunday shows preview: Boosters open to all US adults; House Dems pass spending plan on to Senate

The widening of booster shot eligibility in the U.S. to all adults and House Democrats’ passage of a massive social spending and climate bill, which will now progress to the Senate, are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday show circuit.

On Friday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on a CDC advisory panel’s recommendation that every American over the age of 18 be made eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot. 

Effective immediately, boosters were made available to adults six months after they receive their second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines — a condition already met by tens of millions of people.

The CDC’s advisory panel, which made the recommendation earlier on Friday, also specifically recommended that all people over 50 years old receive a booster shot. 

Walensky’s sign-off followed confusion regarding who was eligible to receive a booster shot. 

Previously, Americans could only get boosters if they fit certain categories. People with an underlying medical condition, aged 65 years and up or considered high risk for contracting COVID-19 based on where they live or work were all previously eligibility.

Over time, however, certain states started to open up eligibility for all adults, pushing ahead of federal guidance. Now the CDC has caught up with those actions.

“Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase people’s protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus as we enter the winter holidays,” Walenksy said in a statement upon signing off on the eligibility expansion. “Based on the compelling evidence, all adults over 18 should now have equitable access to a COVID-19 booster dose.” 

Also on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration granted its full approval to booster shots from both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is scheduled to appear on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

President Biden’s chief medical advisor, Anthony Fauci, who is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” on Thurday encouraged all adults to get a booster shot. 

He explained on MSNBC that getting a booster was of particular importance now as “we are entering the winter season; the weather will be colder, people will be indoors, they’re circulating virus around, we’re seeing an uptick in some of the cases right now.”

“If you’re 18 or older, go get boosted,” he said.

Meanwhile, House Democrats scored a major victory for the party on Friday after the lower chamber voted almost entirely along party lines to pass a roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate package, sending it on to the Senate.

The House voted 220-213 for the bill, which is known as the Build Back Better Act. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), joined all GOP House members in voting against.

“This legislation presents the most historic and transformative agenda in a century. Build Back Better will forge extraordinary progress for the American people: creating good-paying jobs, lowering costs and cutting taxes, while making the wealthiest and big corporations pay their fair share,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter to colleagues on Saturday. 

The version of the bill passed through the House included a slew of Democratic priorities, including funding for universal preschool, renewable energy tax incentives and child care subsidies.

The Senate is expected to take up the package after the Thanksgiving break, at which point House Democrats expect changes will be made.

The House’s passage was no small feat considering that the Congressional Budget Office on Thursday released their entire cost estimate of the spending bill, throwing Democrats into a frenzy.

The CBO’s cost estimate says that $367 billion would be added to the deficit in 10 years, which does not take into account the $207 billion in revenue generated from better IRS enforcement.

White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, who was among a group of administration aides that met with moderates in an effort to assure their continued support for the package after the White House disputed CBO’s numbers, is scheduled to appear on “Fox News Sunday.”

Multiple senators are also expected to make appearances on the Sunday show circuit. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) are scheduled for NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for CBS’ “Face the Nation” and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) for Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas); NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Fauci, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H)., Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears (R-Va.), Beto O’Rourke, Democratic candidate for Texas governor.

“Fox News Sunday” — Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, former Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.)

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Dr. Scott Atlas, Author, “A Plague Upon Our House,” Harriet Hageman, Wyoming Candidate for U.S. Congress, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)