988 Suicide Hotline For LGBTQ+ Youth Is Vulnerable To Trump Budget Cuts

Axios: HHS Leaked Budget Draft Proposes Cutting Suicide Hotline's LGBTQ+ Services
A Trump administration budget proposal that calls to strike a number of programs from the federal health bureaucracy would also seek to eliminate funding for specialized crisis services for LGBTQ+ youth. The national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services has received more than 1.2 million crisis contacts since 2022. Scrapping the program, advocates say, would put young people at risk. (Lotz, 4/23)

The Washington Post: FDA’s Milk Testing Program Pause Is Not Cause For Alarm, Experts Say
On Monday, the FDA halted its “proficiency testing program” for milk and dairy products, the agency said in an email to staff, according to news reports. Under that program, the FDA sends milk samples — some of which are intentionally tainted — to labs at dairy processing centers to test whether the labs correctly screen them. ... An FDA spokesperson confirmed to The Washington Post that the program is “currently paused” but said in an email that it will resume once transferred from its current home to another FDA laboratory, which they described as “an effort that is actively underway.” “In the meantime, state and federal labs continue to analyze food samples, and FDA remains committed to working with states to protect the safety of the pasteurized milk supply,” the spokesperson said. (Heil, 4/23)

On layoffs and the restructuring of HHS —

CBS News: FDA Head Falsely Claims No Scientists Laid Off, As Agency Shutters Food Safety Labs
The head of the Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly claimed in recent interviews that no scientists have been laid off at his agency, but one of the scientists in a food safety lab shuttered by the FDA's cuts says he is either "blatantly lying" or "out of touch." "There were no layoffs to scientists or food inspectors," FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary told CNN on Wednesday. Makary previously said in an April 17 interview with Megyn Kelly that there "were not cuts to scientists, or reviewers, or inspectors. Absolutely none." (Tin, 4/23)

Axios: Key FDA Drug Data Goes Missing Amid DOGE Cuts
Food and Drug Administration databases that physicians and public health experts rely on for key drug safety and manufacturing information have been neglected due to DOGE-directed layoffs, leaving health professionals flying blind on basic questions about certain drugs they're prescribing, current and former FDA officials tell Axios. (Reed, 4/24)

The Washington Post: The ‘5 Things’ Emails Are Going By The Wayside, As Musk Readies His Exit 
When Elon Musk and President Donald Trump commanded all federal workers to submit weekly emails listing five accomplishments, they warned of harsh consequences: Failure to comply would count as a resignation. Musk called the emails an accountability measure needed to ensure that staff even had a “pulse.” ... Some federal agencies have stopped requiring the messages. A shrinking number of departments mandate strict compliance, while others say they are requiring the emails but are not checking for compliance or tracking responses in any way that is detectable to all employees. Many federal workers who still answer the message are either churning out lightly modified versions of the boilerplate each week — or treating the whole thing as a joke, such as by submitting replies in a foreign language. (Natanson, Siddiqui and Davies, 4/21)

MedPage Today: Groups Decry Loss Of Funding For 'Critically Important' GI Disease Network
Physicians and patient advocates are sounding the alarm after the NIH abruptly withdrew a grant renewal application for the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR), the only clinical care network for eosinophilic gastroenteritis patients in the U.S. As the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) explained in a press release, the NIH earlier this month withdrew the 5-year renewal application for the "critically important" CEGIR funding, citing a new policy change and a technicality pertaining to one paragraph on foreign components. (Henderson, 4/23)

Stat: NIH Director Voices Support For Head Of Addiction Research Institute 
The director of the National Institutes of Health gave a ringing endorsement to the nation’s top addiction researcher, Nora Volkow, this week in his first public remarks on the drug overdose crisis — a potential signal that her position as leader of the National Institute on Drug Abuse is, at least for now, secure. (Facher, 4/23)

In related news about the environment —

CNN: FEMA Losing Roughly 20% Of Permanent Staff, Including Longtime Leaders, Ahead Of Hurricane Season
The agency tasked with delivering billions of dollars in assistance to communities devastated by natural disasters is about to lose a huge portion of its workforce, including some of its most experienced and knowledgeable leaders who manage disaster response. With hurricane season just weeks away, about 20% of FEMA’s permanent full-time staff – roughly 1,000 workers – are expected to take a voluntary buyout as part of the latest staff reduction effort from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to several sources briefed on the looming departures. (Cohen, 4/23)

Harvest Public Media: Regional Climate Centers Shut Down Abruptly Last Week. Here's Why It Matters
Several U.S. regional climate centers shut down Thursday — including those in the Midwest, Great Plains and South. Those three centers are responsible for collecting weather data across 21 states, as well as sharing drought conditions and other online tools. But their operations ceased at midnight on Thursday due to a lapse in federal funding, which comes from the Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Arzate, 4/23)

The New York Times: Glitch On Apple Weather And Google Shows Scary Air Quality In Chicago
Readings from several popular weather apps had people across Chicago spending much of Wednesday wondering whether their air was safe to breathe — until the dangerously unhealthy levels were revealed to be a glitch. Early in the morning, Google’s air quality map showed that Chicago had the worst air in the country. Apple’s weather app, too, showed that the Air Quality Index had climbed into the 400s, a reading so hazardous that people are encouraged to stay indoors. (Graff, 4/23)

The New York Times: Smoke From New Jersey Wildfire Could Blanket New York City
Much of the New York City region was under an air quality advisory on Thursday morning as smoke from one of New Jersey’s largest wildfires in two decades made its way north. (McCann, 4/24)