A copy of Susan Monarez’s testimony obtained by POLITICO contrasts sharply with Health Secretary Kennedy’s remarks before the Senate Finance Committee.
-
-
Trump wants MAHA moms’ votes, but lawmakers are worried about his health secretary’s vaccine policies.
-
States are scrambling for a piece of a $50 billion fund. It’s unclear where the money will go.
-
The panel will discuss the Covid-19, hepatitis B and the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccines, as well as the RSV shot.
-
Tens of millions of people could find themselves having to pay hundreds of dollars for shots that were previously covered.
-
The new strategy stops short of surprise regulations and leaves pesticides alone.
-
Trump supporters who oppose Kennedy’s agenda have forced the health secretary to back off.
-
The administration is planning to take regulatory action to require companies to include more drug information
-
The president said many think the shots he helped develop are ‘amazing’ a day after senators criticized new restrictions imposed by his health secretary, RFK Jr.
-
It’s the latest sign the GOP sees political peril in letting enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the year’s end.
-
The health secretary’s statements came amid heated exchanges with some senators.
-
The list of names includes at least three people who have questioned the safety of messenger RNA shots against Covid.
-
The National Association of Evangelicals is headed to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers to keep feeding the world’s hungry.
-
Demetre Daskalakis said the line between science and ideology has become hopelessly blurred.
-
The former CDC director was ousted late Wednesday after refusing to resign under pressure from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
The leading physicians’ group, the American Medical Association, is balancing opposition to the administration with pocketbook concerns.
-
Here are the steps the Health and Human Services secretary took during his push to fire Susan Monarez.
-
Senate HELP Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called for the meeting to be indefinitely postponed “until significant oversight has been conducted.”
-
When Kennedy wanted to fire the CDC director, Trump helped.
-
The decision could make it difficult for young healthy children to get a Covid-19 shot.
-
An HHS official who spoke with POLITICO on the condition of anonymity contested HHS’ claim, saying Monarez was repeatedly asked to resign but has refused.
-
As an epicenter of small business growth and the MAGA movement, Florida offers a glimpse into the potential political fallout
-
The company that owns the hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, vowed to rebuild after Hurricane Helene. Federal cuts may make that impossible.
-
Millions of Americans who live in certain states may not be able to get vaccinated at a local pharmacy.
-
The American Academy of Pediatrics had earlier urged parents to get young children vaccinated against Covid — pushing back against the health secretary’s stance.
-
Nearly 2 in 3 Black children are enrolled in the program.
-
Photos shared with POLITICO show bullet holes in windows of a building on the agency’s main campus near Emory University.
-
The shooting comes amid an already tumultuous time for CDC staff.
-
Vinay Prasad had been dismissed less than two weeks ago.
-
The schools won a reprieve in court, but they’re still offering the president a compromise.
-
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding.
-
Dr. Jerome Adams said HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “failed” in his response to the deadly violence.
-
Industry will have to wait longer for the report, which is expected to give the government’s response to childhood chronic diseases.
-
The ruling overturned a district judge’s injunction that had directed the administration to restore the flow of the grants.
-
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement is taking off in red — and blue — states, even as health experts condemn some of his actions.
-
A well-connected drug company and Laura Loomer wanted Kennedy ally Vinay Prasad gone. Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles got his job back.
-
Brian Blase has pushed the GOP to make deeper cuts to the safety-net health program.
-
Bhattacharya and Kennedy split on mRNA cuts
-
Agency Director Susan Monarez tried to soothe staff at a Tuesday meeting, but some employees said the all-hands call was lacking.
-
Agency employees said HHS’s response has been lackluster.
-
Thousands have fallen ill.
-
The move ends investments in projects involving mRNA technology.
-
The president overruled his HHS secretary and FDA chief, four people with knowledge of the decision tell POLITICO.
-
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary has taken a personal interest in addressing hormone therapy treatment for menopause.
-
Some in Congress have put pressure on the FDA to review the pill, which ends pregnancy before 10 weeks.
-
The health secretary has said repeatedly he wants to provide better care for Native Americans, but he’s yet to reveal how.
-
The letter from President Donald Trump’s doctor details his new vascular diagnosis.
-
Chronic venous insufficiency is a common condition that can worsen over time.
-
The expiration of shots the Biden administration promised to send comes after President Donald Trump cut deeply into foreign aid.
-
The most painful health care provisions in the new Republican law don’t take effect for years, giving lobbyists plenty of time to undo them.
-
Red states are banning the tooth-protecting mineral, while blue state skeptics aren’t budging.
-
Civil servants told POLITICO they’re anxious and exhausted, but holding out hope their lawyers can still save their jobs.
-
The CDC says cases have reached nearly 1,300, the most since 1992.
-
It seeks information on employees who quit or faced discipline during the Biden administration for refusing to execute DEI orders, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.
-
They say the decision “erodes trust” by pitting providers against federal recommendations that aren’t grounded in evidence.
-
President Donald Trump has targeted undocumented immigrants, but the GOP bill will bar those who played by the rules from subsidized care, too.
-
The politics of the party have shifted, with more of the GOP base reliant on welfare programs. But policy hasn’t followed.
-
The procedure was already being performed in the state following a lower court ruling.
-
Six Republicans said big cuts to the low-income health insurance program were unacceptable. Now they have to vote.
-
Republicans now support counterculture drug research, while Democrats have become cautious about unproven medical treatments.
-
The meeting offered a glimpse into how the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will operate — and how federal vaccine policy is beginning to reflect Kennedy’s personal views.
-
If the CDC adopts the recommendation, it will mark one of the first major changes in federal vaccine guidance and access as Kennedy embarks on his goal of remaking immunization policy in his image.
-
Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.
-
The new work group could open the door to changes to vaccine recommendations.
-
The health secretary resurfaced anti-vaccine claims at a House hearing, alleging collusion by pharma companies, public health experts and politicians to mask the truth.
-
Drug company shares are down amid President Donald Trump’s assault on the industry, but some in Congress see value.
-
Cassidy criticizes RFK Jr.'s vaccine advisers
-
The leader of South Carolina’s hospital association said a cost-saver in the bill would force the state to consider Medicaid expansion.
-
The Trump administration projects as many as 1.8 million people, including many DACA recipients, could lose coverage.
-
The health secretary wrote a 2014 book arguing that thimerosal caused brain damage, a claim his own agencies say is unfounded.
-
The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group that works with the government to help administer the “Press 3” option, said the decision could have grave consequences.
-
Republicans want to curtail taxes states have imposed to increase payments to hospitals.
-
The health secretary wants regulators to question long-settled science and public health guidance.
-
Around half of those employees are in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention.
-
The health secretary, who wants Americans to make healthier choices, rarely mentions smoking.
-
The studies are cited in a document sent to lawmakers.
-
The HHS secretary announced his plans in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece Monday afternoon.
-
The State Department would not provide data to support the secretary’s repeated claim that 85 percent of the US global AIDS program is operational.
-
Agency personnel files listed incorrect performance ratings that were used to determine which employees would be laid off, according to a new lawsuit.
-
The Food and Drug Administration commissioner repeatedly said patients should rely on guidance from their doctors.
-
The Conversation with Dasha Burns launches with Mehmet Oz as its first guest.
-
The CMS administrator says in a POLITICO podcast that most Americans agree with the White House push to enact work requirements.
-
Federal policy changes are having spillover effects on everything from disease outbreak mitigation to long-term care
-
An update to the CDC’s website shows that children “may” get the Covid vaccine if their parents and doctors want them to.
-
Dr. Oz pushes back on GOP criticism of proposed Medicaid changes
-
The health secretary said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet are in bed with pharma.
-
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the decision without waiting for an agency advisory panel to vote.
-
The loss of the CDC’s drowning-prevention unit is one that water safety advocates fear will have a direct impact on children’s safety.
-
The commission led by the health secretary says physicians often have the wrong prescription for America’s ills.
-
The Make America Healthy Again Commission that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leads will release a strategy to combat chronic disease by summer’s end.
-
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again Commission will assess the causes of childhood disease on Thursday.
-
The health secretary also rejected a pandemic agreement member countries of the U.N. agency just adopted.
-
The disease included “metastasis to the bone,” according to a statement from his personal office.
-
Abortion opponents hope a new report will spur the GOP to ban abortion pills and defund Planned Parenthood.
-
Democrats confront RFK Jr. on budget cuts, but will need Republican help to stop them
-
The move reinstates some employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health — which lost more than 90 percent of its workforce.
-
Bill Cassidy, the senator who secured Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promise to protect vaccines, will question the health secretary at a hearing Wednesday.
-
The Energy and Commerce Committee chair is about to be put to the test.
-
An internal MAHA battle is breaking out between an HHS employee who co-founded a health care payments company and a CEO of a rival company.
-
The push will likely draw lawsuits from the pharmaceutical industry.
-
Brain banks stopped taking donations as their contract expiration date approached.
-
Federal workers, Democratic lawmakers, state officials and independent legal experts say keeping offices afloat in name only – with minimal or no staff – is an unconstitutional power grab.
-
The withdrawal comes after questions were raised about her academic credentials.
-
Casey Means and brother Calley are favorites of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
The new figure comes as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly delivered mixed messages about the outbreak.
-
Fired employees and conservatives say the gutted research teams’ work aligned with the Trump administration’s “pro-family” messaging.
-
The selection of Rich Danker comes after HHS’ first assistant secretary for public affairs abruptly quit days into his tenure.
-
Casey Means’ nomination to the post comes after former Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat’s nomination was abruptly withdrawn.
-
The wellness influencer is the sister of Calley Means, a top adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
With a longtime vaccine skeptic serving as the country’s top health official, the movement is likely to make further inroads.
-
The filing over the regulation of mifepristone indicates an emerging pattern: An effort to preserve executive power.
-
The director of national intelligence told podcast host Megyn Kelly she’s working with top HHS officials to investigate Covid-19’s origins.
-
Groups advocating for people with the condition are split on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s effort to understand why so many more are being diagnosed with it.
-
Red states have borne the brunt of DOGE’s targeting of AmeriCorps
-
An HHS spokesperson said the reprieve could become permanent.
-
CMS’ Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights develops civil rights compliance policy for agency workers.
-
President Donald Trump is under pressure to decide how widely available anti-obesity drugs should be and whether Medicare should cover them.
-
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expanded his authority well beyond the bounds of a traditional health secretary.
-
People in and out of government told POLITICO that they fear the cuts will lead to major backsliding on understanding firefighters’ health risks.
-
The industry is struggling to find its voice as Trump and RFK Jr. rage against it.
-
Dozens of medical providers have struggled to stay afloat since more than $65 million dollars for the Title X family planning program was withheld on April 1.
-
Preventive care services for millions hang in the balance.
-
The lawsuit, brought by conservative employers in Texas, targets the expert panel that advises HHS on which preventive care services insurers must cover without cost-sharing.
-
The Facebook founder is lobbying Congress to leave his firm alone — and making headway.
-
The secretary said better diagnostics and awareness are responsible for a quarter of the increased rate.
-
The Trump administration is mulling sharp budget cuts at health agencies.
-
The forced resignation of Peter Marks has unsettled scientists and researchers.
-
He also said the election of Trump was a mandate to make dramatic change in leadership.
-
“Medicaid is where most of us think they will go,” he said.
-
Fired workers and outside experts say the cuts leave the nation more vulnerable to health threats.
-
Rep. Diana DeGette told POLITICO’s Health Care Summit that there’s not enough waste in Medicaid to find the savings the GOP is promising.
-
The high court overturned a ruling that the FDA arbitrarily banned e-cigarette products.
-
The HHS secretary’s remarks shocked staffers at the Food and Drug Administration, prompting some to walk out.
-
The New Hampshire senator has backed as many Trump Cabinet picks as anyone in the Democratic caucus.
-
The National Institutes of Health is the latest agency to break from Trump’s billionaire adviser.
-
Republicans are seeking billions in savings from the insurance program for low-income people to pay for tax cuts.
-
The case hinges on whether Medicaid patients have the right to see the doctor of their choice.
-
The looming possibility of slashing Medicaid spending and not extending ACA subsidies has prompted a legislative scramble from Sacramento to Annapolis.
-
The intervention by a senior FDA official in a product decision is a highly unusual action.
-
Trump on measles outbreak: 'Not something new'
-
RFK Jr. also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue.
-
The state has almost 500 cases
-
The statement is a surprising turn for the health secretary and comes amid reports of a second child’s death.
-
The department plans to consolidate all agency FOIA offices into one.
-
Employees who survived mass firings this week say management hasn’t provided an accounting.
-
The health secretary says better diet and exercise will keep Americans trim.
-
The health department has no plan to mass reinstate employees it cut earlier this week.
-
The Trump administration wants the agency to focus on infectious disease. Other areas of public health were hit hardest.
-
Inside RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda with Calley Means | Playbook Deep Dive
-
The removals have gutted FDA and NIH leadership.
-
Republicans painted a picture of a corrupt, broken system. Democrats said Trump’s cuts were putting millions of lives at risk.
-
Rep. Vern Buchanan told POLITICO’s Health Care Summit that Republicans will find savings in Medicaid but won’t cut it.
-
Drug and medical device makers didn’t oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as health secretary but are speaking up in opposition to the agency downsizing he ordered.
-
Overnight notices hit civil service leaders as well as the rank and file.
-
The Title X funds were earmarked for birth control and other non-abortion services.
-
Ashish Jha blames Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
The departure of Marks leaves the agency without yet another senior regulator.
-
Art Kleinschmidt would have a role focused on behavioral health issues.
-
The cuts amount to more than 20 percent of staff.
-
The cuts sent shockwaves through the department’s sprawling workforce, prompting a scramble among senior agency officials to figure out which employees and policy priorities were affected.
-
The State Department sent the list of impacted grants and contracts to Congress, according to a document seen by POLITICO.
-
The move comes as part of the administration’s reorganization of HHS, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO.
-
Susan Monarez was the deputy director for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health since January 2023.
-
President Trump is taking apart one of George W. Bush’s proudest achievements.
-
HHS tells CDC leaders it is “recommending termination” of the discretionary advisory committees.
-
The Missouri Republican, alone, isn’t enough to block Oz’s nomination to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, even if Democrats join him.
-
Democratic state lawmakers are trying to bolster protections, but those efforts are imperiled by legal fights.
-
The cuts would seem to run counter to a first-term Trump priority.
-
Sen. Lisa Murkowski shared concerns about his vaccine views before the White House pulled his nomination.
-
At his confirmation hearing to run Medicaid, Oz brushed off Democrats’ concerns about cuts Republicans are planning.
-
The effort is part of the Trump administration’s plan to shrink the federal government.
-
The memo created by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee comes as Oz is expected to face the panel on Friday for a confirmation hearing.
-
The move is likely to tighten the Trump administration’s control over the public health agency.
-
The workers have until 5 p.m. on Friday to submit a response for the so-called voluntary separation offer.
-
The health secretary’s muted response to the first major disease outbreak on his watch worries even some allies.
-
The outside group Indivisible said Democrats should hold their own town halls — and if Dems don’t, they’ll hold their own.
-
The Covid contrarian’s Senate confirmation hearing to lead the National Institutes of Health promises another airing of pandemic grievances.
-
An Idaho hospital is stepping in to argue that the state’s near-total abortion ban violates patients’ rights.
-
Trump’s FBI and DOJ dropped several ongoing investigations into threats against abortion clinics and issued a new memo signaling reduced enforcement going forward against such acts.
-
When asked about the measles outbreak and death, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “it’s not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year.”
-
Steak ‘n Shake said that locations across several states transitioned away from using seed oils in their fries.
-
House Majority PAC will run TV and digital ads targeting vulnerable GOP congressional incumbents.
-
GOP lawmakers are considering a plan to limit federal matching funds for the health insurance program to pay for tax cuts.
-
The Trump administration has terminated funding for HIV, malaria and maternal health programs it had labeled lifesaving.
-
The unanimous ruling overturns a decision by Texas U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee.
-
The cuts come amid growing attrition from an aging federal workforce, which the Biden administration worried would hollow out the government without intervention.
-
Even if every improper payment were caught, it wouldn’t provide a third of the savings the GOP needs.
-
A federal judge cleared the move Friday after a two-week hold.
-
GOP lawmakers expected to vote soon on slashing the insurance program for low-income people represent tens of millions reliant on it.
-
Speaking at a POLITICO event, the Wisconsin senator said fellow Democrats should use their leverage when government funding expires next month.
-
Kennedy’s first week at HHS included dismissing the workforce, vaccine advisers and some longtime health priorities.
-
Speaking at a POLITICO event, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure suggested that Elon Musk and his team don’t have sufficient expertise in Medicare.
-
Del Bigtree, now a leader of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s grassroots movement, said he should seek proof of an autism link.
-
The former CDC director calls for more vaccine research, and also warns that a bird flu pandemic “is coming” and could be worse than Covid.
-
The health secretary is planning to remove members of a panel that recommends vaccines if he sees conflicts of interest.
-
Brooks-LaSure: 'If we don't care about the least among us, we all suffer'
-
Former CMS administrator says she's 'heartbroken' over HHS layoffs
-
His first remarks to the department since being confirmed comes as Washington reels from mass firings and funding cuts.
-
The cuts would slice $4 billion from the budgets of universities and research organizations.
-
Policymakers are scrambling to find ways to reduce costs — or even dropping coverage.