In a striking show of bipartisan resolve, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced legislation this week that would codify former President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Most-Favored-Nation” (MFN) drug pricing, a policy designed to ensure American patients pay no more for prescription drugs than consumers in other developed countries.
This is a courageous undertaking. By a Democrat no less. #MAHA https://t.co/GFbVJOHVB5
— NV Republican Club (@NRCGOPClub) May 15, 2025
Khanna, a progressive Democrat known for his tech savvy and populist economic positions, delivered his floor speech with a pointed message to Congress:
“Will Congress members stand with $16 billion in Big Pharma money, or with the American people by co-sponsoring this bipartisan legislation?”
The executive order, originally signed during Trump’s first term and now renewed in his second, targets the pricing disparity that sees Americans paying as much as four to five times more for the same medications sold at far lower prices in Europe, Canada, and beyond. Trump’s message, echoed by Khanna, is simple but forceful: America is being ripped off, and U.S. patients are effectively subsidizing socialized medicine overseas.
I support @realDonaldTrump effort to ensure Americans do not pay more for drugs than those in other countries. But instead of an EO that will get challenged again by Big Pharma, why not work with @BernieSanders & me to make this law! https://t.co/ydXvrv1y1v
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 12, 2025
Khanna’s bill seeks to make the policy immune to legal challenges by giving it the force of law. He explained that Big Pharma had previously sued to kill Trump’s 2020 MFN executive order, and succeeded in blocking it before it could take effect.
“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,” Khanna said.
Trump’s executive order includes several powerful directives:
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The U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce must identify and challenge foreign pricing schemes that undercut U.S. drug prices.
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Price targets will be established and communicated directly to drug manufacturers, positioning the U.S. as a dominant negotiator.
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A patient-direct mechanism will allow Americans to purchase drugs directly from manufacturers at the lowest international price.
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If companies refuse, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is empowered to impose MFN pricing and pursue other aggressive measures to slash costs and end anti-competitive behaviors.
As Trump himself put it:
“In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory… We spend tremendous amounts of money to provide inexpensive drugs to another country.”
Khanna’s decision to carry this torch has stunned some on the Left and energized others looking for rare moments of common-sense consensus in a hyper-polarized Congress. By calling out $16 billion in pharmaceutical lobbying influence, Khanna is daring his colleagues—on both sides of the aisle—to prove where they stand: with American families or with the profit margins of multinational corporations.
And for Trump, this marks a policy victory that transcends party lines, reaffirming his brand of economic populism that remains immensely popular with the public—even among those who disagree with him on other issues.
