For Two Companies, State Department Resumes Nutrition Aid Orders
Some famine experts are optimistic about the government's decision to ship U.S.-made ready-to-use therapeutic food — it's a start — but one notes: "What we haven't seen yet ... is any indication that programs and funding that were meant to address long-term food security will be resumed."
NPR:
Why The Company That Makes Plumpy'Nut Is 'Just Over The Moon!'
Navyn Salem cried when she got a call last week — but they were happy tears. They were sparked by a message from the U.S. State Department: After months of confusion from stop-work orders, contract terminations and foreign aid cuts, the federal government is ready to restart ordering therapeutic food designed to bring malnourished children back from the brink. "Someone brought me my phone and said, 'Look at what message just came in,'" she recalled in an interview with NPR. "It was our first order [from the U.S. government] for 2025." (Emanuel, 8/11)
On research funding —
The New York Times:
Harvard Nears A Deal With The Trump Administration To Restore Funding
Harvard University and the Trump administration are nearing a potentially landmark legal settlement that would see Harvard agree to spend $500 million in exchange for the restoration of billions of dollars in federal research funding, according to four people familiar with the deliberations. The talks could still collapse, as President Trump and senior Harvard officials need to sign off on the terms of the deal. The sides are still going back and forth over important wording for a potential agreement. (Blinder, Schmidt and Bender, 8/11)
The Washington Post:
Inside Science Labs Trying To Survive In The Trump Era
Anastasia Khvorova’s lab at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School shows how quickly the administration is dismantling an 80-year partnership that made the U.S. a scientific superpower. (Johnson, 8/11)
On Veterans Affairs, Medicaid and ACA —
The Guardian:
US Veterans Agency Lost Thousands Of ‘Core’ Medical Staff Under Trump, Records Show
The Department of Veterans Affairs has lost thousands of healthcare professionals deemed “core” to the system’s ability to function and “without which mission-critical work cannot be completed," agency records show. But the VA said in a statement to the Guardian that “anyone who says VA is cutting health care and benefits is not being honest.” (Glantz, 8/11)
The Colorado Sun:
Colorado Tries To Soften Impact Of Medicaid Cuts In "Big Beautiful Bill"
Colorado is hoping a just-under-the-wire application to the federal government will help soften the blow of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the recently signed tax and spending measure. The application is to create what is known as a state directed payments program. Such programs pull down extra federal Medicaid funding that can then be paid to health care providers with the goal of expanding access to care and improving the quality of the care. (Ingold, 8/12)
California Healthline:
Considering A Life Change? Brace For Higher ACA Costs
People thinking about starting a business or retiring early — before they’re old enough for Medicare — may want to wait until November, when they can see just how much their Affordable Care Act health insurance will cost next year. Sharp increases are expected. Premiums for ACA health plans, also known as Obamacare, which many early retirees and small-business owners rely on for coverage, are going up, partly due to policy changes advanced by the Trump administration and Congress. At the same time, more generous tax subsidies that have helped most policyholders pay for coverage are set to expire at the end of December. (Appleby, 8/12)
In other Trump administration news —
The Hill:
Trump Considers Reclassifying Marijuana As Less Dangerous
President Trump said Monday his administration is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Such a move would continue efforts begun by the Biden administration, which started the process to make marijuana a Schedule III drug in 2024 but did not finish it before former President Biden left office. (Weixel, 8/11)
Bloomberg:
Firm Tied To Trump Jr. Debuts Direct Sales Product For Pharma
A company that has Donald Trump Jr. on its board debuted a new service to help pharmaceutical companies launch direct sales platforms, one week after President Donald Trump demanded that drugmakers create similar systems. The company, BlinkRx, is pitching the offering as a way to set up a system for drugmakers to sell products directly to patients in “as little as 21 days.” (Cohrs Zhang, 8/11)
The New York Times:
Trump, Seeking Friendlier Economic Data, Names New Statistics Chief
President Trump announced on Monday that he would nominate E.J. Antoni, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mr. Trump fired the previous commissioner of the agency after it reported weak job growth. ...The bureau is seen as the gold standard for information on prices, employment, productivity and more — an essential underpinning for policymaking and financial markets. (Romm, Casselman and DePillis, 8/11)
