In a sign of the US medical device industry’s increasing clout among federal legislators, Senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have relaunched the Senate Medical Technology Caucus to drum up Congressional attention on issues such as the 2.3% excise tax and possible changes to the FDA’s 510(k) clearance process.

Massdevice.com and The Boston Globe report that despite their conflicting political inclinations, Democrat Klobuchar and Republican Brown hail from the two largest states in terms of medical device industry presence. Both senators have openly opposed the excise tax on manufacturers included in the 2010 health care reform law. With support for the industry also increasing in recent weeks in the House of Representatives, US medical device manufacturers appear to be in a strong position—with powerful allies—as debate over the FDA’s clearance and approval processes continues.