Stacy Sanders: Chief health adviser, Senate Finance Committee Democrats

Stacy Sanders, the health chief for Senate Finance Committee Democrats, joined the committee while Democrats were in the majority in fall 2024 but has quickly adjusted to being in the minority.

She said the day-to-day work dealing with the Trump administration’s "relentlessness” is a constant balancing act. 

“Finding that balance between advancing our proactive agenda and appropriately reacting to and meeting the moment of this administration and this majority is a constant challenge,” Sanders said. 

Sanders helped develop key health initiatives for the Department of Health and Human Services before departing in October to help advise committee Democrats on health policy. 

Most of her job has been briefing lawmakers on the impact of the GOP’s massive tax cut and spending bill that passed over the summer, so they can spread the message to their constituents. 

“The bulk of our work is looking to understand the impacts of the law, mitigate the effects of the law, and really be clear eyed in terms of telling the story about what this law means for people's health care,” Sanders said. “But I also think that that experience will inform the work that we do to reimagine the health care system and rebuild the health care system.” 

Prior to working in government, Sanders spent time as an advocate for Medicare beneficiaries at the Medicare Right Center. She said her work during the 2016 ObamaCare repeal fight helped hone her approach to messaging against what Republicans call the “big, beautiful bill.”

“That is something the advocacy community does very well ... always come back to the patient, always come back to the beneficiary. Make it real for people by connecting it to their human experience,” Sanders said.  

 “And so you saw, in every opportunity where we had a hearing in Finance, our members talked about what it would mean for seniors, what it would mean for kids, what it would mean for people with disabilities,” she said. “And that was very powerful, and I think it created hesitation across the aisle in terms of the depth and the Medicaid cuts and what they would mean for those vulnerable populations.” 

Sanders is in her second stint on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining the Biden administration, she served as staff director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging for former Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.).