"National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya faced questions from senators during an Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, as the federal government agency has taken hits to its staffing levels and grant-making ability since under President Trump.

Senators focused on the Trump administration’s requested 2026 budget, which calls for cutting NIH’s funding by $18 billion from 2025 levels."

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5342897-nih-bhattacharya-senate-testimony/

"#HHS has been sending memos today to laid off employees informing them that they're un-RIFed. "That notice is hereby revoked. You'll not be affected by the upcoming RIF."

Am told total# of unRIFed #CDC folks is 467 (unconfirmed)

what a way to run a govt."
-S Stein

The Trump admin has reversed the firings of staffers at the CDC, incl those who work in divisions that handle cruise ship safety, sexually transmitted infection prevention, & global health.
#Health #USPol
https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/11/hhs-reverses-firings-cdc/

Trump's #HHS Dir is doing his bidding, keeping us sick, imperiled, frightened...

The CDC’s vaccine guidance is what private insurers rely on to det whether or not they'll cover the costs of immunizations. MDCD will only cover: full price of recm vaccines, & children who're insured can rec free vaccinations thru the Vaccines for Children Prgm only if those immunizations are recm by the #CDC.

W/o INSUR, Pfizer & Moderna shotsfor #Covid can cost as much as $150.
#USPol https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/a-covid-vaccine-could-soon-cost-as-much-as-150even-if-youre-insured.html

"The WH, via OMB R Vought, has instructed agencies like #EPA, #HHS, #NSF, Interior & #NASA to freeze over $30B in spending -raising serious constitutional Qs about Congress’s “power of the purse” & the expansion of pres exec authority."
-C Young

Targets incl NSF research & edu prgms that operate using funding leftover from 2024 +tens of $Ms for nat park ops +>$100M in science spending at NASA, which incls. climate res.

Power of purse: #Congress!
#Fascism #Resist #USPol https://www.eenews.net/articles/white-house-looks-to-freeze-more-agency-funds-and-expand-executive-power/

ICYMI: #HHS has been circulating an FAQ explaining why Kennedy unilaterally dropped recommendations that kids & pregnant people get #Covid shots. It cites studies. But the studies it cites to suggest dangers of getting the shot during pregnancy dispel that claim. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/10/hhs-justifies-decision-to-stop-recommending-covid-shots-during-pregnancy-with-studies-supporting-the-shots-safety-00396523

"The Trump administration’s cancellation of $766 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines against potential pandemic flu viruses is the latest blow to national defense, former health security officials said. They warned that the U.S. could be at the mercy of other countries in the next pandemic."

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/bird-flu-vaccine-funding-cut-virus-h5n1-biosecurity-next-pandemic/

#politics #trump #alt #authoritarism #cdc #rfk #vaccines #publichealth #hhs

Heather Cox Richardson 5/9/2025
Advisory Community Immunization Practices Dismantled

RFK Jr. breaks promise to senators, guts CDC vaccine panel of independent experts
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/cdc-vaccine-panel-acip-rfk-jr-kennedy-rcna212007

Brain worm RFK Jr. removes all members of CDC panel advising U.S. on vaccines. He’s gonna replace them all with ‘his people’ - what could possibly go wrong? #PublicHealth #CDC #vaccines #epidemiology #pandemic #medicine #HHS #Republicans #RepublicansDidThis #TrumpAdministration

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/09/rfk-jr-cdc-panel-vaccines.html

BREAKING: RFK Jr. fires ACIP, the panel responsible for advising on vaccines.

This breaks a promise to Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to advance Kennedy as HHS secretary on the condition that he would, among other things, keep ACIP in place.

https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/09/rfk-jr-fires-every-member-of-cdc-vaccine-expert-panel-acip/

It reminds me of #AtlasShrugged.

“We are probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine (#NEJM), #JAMA and those other journals because they are all corrupt."

Kennedy said agencies within the #HHS will create their own “in-house” journals. “They are going to become the preeminent journals, because if you get #NIH funding it is anointing you as a good, legitimate scientist,” he said.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5322269-robert-kennedy-jr-bans-medical-journals/

The Bethesda Declaration: A Call for #NIH and #HHS Leadership to Deliver on Promises of Academic Freedom and Scientific Excellence. From #StandUpForScience.
https://www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-declaration

The declaration is signed by 21 Nobel laureates, more than 300 NIH employees, and a growing number of others. I just signed and you hope you will too. Here's the signature form.
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/add-name-bethesda-declaration

"And now, after news broke last week that Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' (MAHA) report cited studies that don't appear to exist, more experts are calling for Kennedy's ouster.

"Certainly, he should have never been confirmed to head the office of HHS, but choosing to leave him in charge is like handing the keys to a driver who continues to insist that stop signs and red lights are optional," said Mike Varshavski, DO..."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/115928

"The CDC, a $9.2 billion-a-year agency tasked with reviewing life-saving vaccines, monitoring diseases and watching for budding threats to Americans’ health, is without a clear leader."

https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-cdc-covid19-leadership-ac86dfe10613fa8329f6a0ee4fd8ea62

Stupid people are killing their own children.

Two unvaccinated babies die of whooping cough in KY as disease rise is predicted to continue
https://www.alternet.org/whooping-cough/

"Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz defended President Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill' over criticism that millions of people could lose health coverage, saying those who would face new work requirements should 'prove that you matter.'"

Work reporting requirements decrease Medicaid coverage, which the GOP needs to pass tax cuts for billionaires.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5334508-dr-oz-medicaid-cuts-work-requirements/

"Attorneys general of New York, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts are asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand access to the abortion pill and remove some 'unnecessary' drug restrictions that have been in place for more than two decades."

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5334969-blue-states-fda-abortion-pill-access/

Either #HHS stands with science, or it promotes the anti-#trans hate machine. #Right now, it’s doing the latter. Tell Secretary #RFK Jr. to take down this report now. https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/u001.qUXRBnqZ7T8nxbpAcIVwoUsWLkUMWlo_0JmZttSlm38j2nXRGcfRylTjTlcD7J9q7yhmTfabsyl1g8po94DW8PmWNR_KDyyG2w5tvvN7Nb4Az1-IyQdjSQLHBb0iPseKQt5G3TyGDEM2WDSwmDdPk0_lo0FCgG2w1qyA5XXT9Evy8nFcaECybLaOyXhh2zWalZwG3vF7Q4BXNSzXBc0zqQ4N5c5XcHweupGcWPqOPlKWFYuy_1hBP2xi5FK2M3-8nEc6SDHvVFEuNHUBz457Hn8_vcS8IY4oRfuEUieGdYb_KATaBzm6TfvzO0JlYbKzkj_n-bUm6qNSUspeUWrk8-dnbsbEC3_wQQXnYvbE3IgST2giq-ACiWZa7W6cRbBa/4h2/fX6RjKbTQRqn8oyb7Gi7Iw/h2/h001.jV81o-RUlAIdP3_EpXBcg6kITgXJ3tCLUCqbe22uI2c

"Some insurers have sent members a text asking for permission to continue texting, but other health plans have refused since even an initial text could be considered a violation. Each infraction, or text, could result in a $500 to $1,500 fine. Multiplied over hundreds of thousands of members, those costs add up quick."

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/medicaid-work-requirements-trump-bill-revives-calls-update-managed-care-texting-ban