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Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre filed a lawsuit Monday against a U.S. Senate committee that pursued contempt charges against him for failing to appear before the panel despite being issued a subpoena. ... The lawsuit claims that the lawmakers are unlawfully violating de la Torre’s constitutional rights. It alleges that the members of the committee, by trying to compel de la Torre to answer questions about Steward’s bankruptcy, are “collectively undertaking a concerted effort to punish Dr. de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to ‘be compelled . . . to be a witness against himself.’ (LeBlanc, 9/30)

House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra late last week for documents on the whereabouts of thousands of migrant children in the United States.  In a letter informing Becerra of the subpoena, Green wrote he previously requested documents in August on the “vetting, screening and monitoring” of unaccompanied children’s sponsors by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within HHS.  (O'Connell-Domenech, 9/30)

Congress left town last week after passing a stopgap funding bill, but it left behind a lot of unfinished business, much of it vital — or threatening — to various segments of the healthcare system. It will all have to wait until after Election Day on Nov. 12, when voters will choose who holds power in the White House, House and Senate next year. Those results are likely to impact exactly what gets passed when lawmakers return and close out the 118th Congress in December. (McAuliff, 9/30)

If Florida passes the amendment [that would legalize recreational cannabis], the state would become something of an aberration. Although 24 other states already have legal pot on the books, just four of them voted for Donald Trump in 2020: Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, and Montana. Many top Republicans remain vehemently against legal weed, warning that the drug brings disorder and health risks, especially as marijuana has become more potent. (Florko, 9/30)

Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Donald Trump's comments on her racial identity, the value she places on mental health, and her support for legalizing marijuana with former NBA stars Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on a podcast that aired on Monday. ... Harris reiterated a view she had expressed before becoming the Democrats' presidential candidate in July that cannabis should be decriminalized, citing the disproportionate impact that marijuana criminalization has had on Black people. "We know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail." (Borter, 9/30)

An effort to expand Arkansas’ medical marijuana program fell short of the required signatures and won’t qualify for the November ballot, Secretary of State John Thurston said Monday. Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, said it planned to take legal action to appeal Thurston’s decision. (DeMillo, 9/30)