Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS To Oversee Special Education Under Trump's Plan To Dismantle Education Department
AP: Trump Moves Special Education Out Of Education Department
President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday accelerated its dismantling of the Education Department, delegating much of its work to protect the nation’s at-risk students. The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education, administration officials announced. With those moves, the Education Department has now carved away the vast majority of its functions for other agencies to handle. (Ma, 6/17)
Politico: Trump Reviews Slowed Screwworm Response, Former Officials Say
The Trump administration’s sweeping federal spending reviews slowed government efforts to contain the New World screwworm, according to three former Agriculture Department officials and a fourth person with knowledge of the matter. USDA reviews held up funding for the construction of one facility that is crucial to slowing the flesh-eating pest’s threat to the U.S. cattle supply, according to the three former officials, who like the fourth person were granted anonymity to discuss internal decision-making. A $100 million research initiative designed to create new tools to slow the screwworm’s advance was also delayed, two of the former officials said. (Brown, 6/17)
Updates from the FDA and the CDC —
MedPage Today: FDA Alerts On Shortage Of Breast Biopsy Needles
The FDA informed healthcare providers about disruptions in the supply of stereotactic breast biopsy needles that will likely persist through March 2027. According to the agency, the disruption is expected to impact patient care and "may require adjustments to the clinical management of patients indicated to undergo a breast biopsy." (Bassett, 6/16)
The Hill: FDA Approves Third OTC Naloxone Nasal Spray For Opioid Overdose
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a third over-the-counter version of naloxone nasal spray Tuesday, in a move the agency said could save lives and reduce costs. The agency approved another Rextovy, a 4 milligram naloxone nasal spray for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose. FDA said consumers may directly buy it in pharmacies, convenience stores and online. Naloxone is a medicine that can help reduce opioid overdose deaths and when administered in time, usually within minutes of the first signs of an opioid overdose, can counter the overdose effects. (Weixel, 6/16)
AP: US Infant Mortality Reached All-Time Low In 2025, CDC Reports
Infant mortality in the U.S. dropped to a new all-time low in 2025, according to preliminary government data. There were slightly fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While that appears to be a small decline from about 5.5 in 2024 and 5.6 in the two years preceding, researchers say it is statistically meaningful and translates to hundreds of fewer infant deaths per year. (Stobbe, 6/16)
In other administration news —
AP: US Justice Department Accuses New York Officials Of Fraud In $10B Home Care Program
The U.S. Justice Department accused New York state officials Tuesday of facilitating fraud, saying they let a Georgia company use a sham bidding process to gain control of and then abuse a $10 billion program to provide home care to disabled Medicaid patients. Federal lawyers made the claims in a civil lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court, naming the state’s Department of Health, its Medicaid director and the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company Public Partnerships LLC, as defendants. (Izaguirre and Neumeister, 6/16)
AP: Justice Department Seeks To Dismiss Air Pollution Lawsuit Against Musk's XAI
The Trump administration is helping one of Elon Musk’s companies fight a civil rights lawsuit that alleges it is illegally running dozens of natural gas turbines to power a $20 billion AI data center in Mississippi. The NAACP and other groups say Musk’s xAI subsidiary failed to get a permit for its power plant — which is located near homes, schools and churches — creating health risks for families in North Mississippi and nearby Memphis and violating the federal Clean Air Act. (Daly and Condon, 6/17)
The Hill: NIH Launches New Office To Reduce Animal Testing
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Monday announced the launch of a new office aimed at reducing the use of animal-based research testing and boosting the use of testing methods that “better reflect human biology.” NIH’s new office will be named the Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA). Reducing animal testing has been among the primary goals within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure. (Choi, 6/16)
AP: ICE Says Revised Detention Rules 'Reduce The Burden' On Contractors
Contractors running Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities can rely more heavily on artificial intelligence tools to communicate with detainees while continuing to pay people they hold $1 per day for “voluntary work,” under relaxed detention standards released Monday. ICE said the standards, which apply to for-profit contractors and jails that hold detainees, were revised with input from partners to “reduce the burden on our detention operators.” Experts said the changes would help contractors limit legal liability, reduce costs and get more operational flexibility while doing little, if anything, to improve conditions for roughly 60,000 people currently detained. (Foley, 6/16)
Also —
Politico: RFK Jr. Keeps Showing Up In Districts Republicans Need To Win
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is turning up with regularity in the House districts that will decide the midterms. With his visit to Charlotte, Michigan, on Tuesday to discuss his Make America Healthy Again agenda with freshman GOP Rep. Tom Barrett, Kennedy will have been in four in the last six weeks. Last week, he toured an elder care program in Thornton, Colorado, outside Denver in the district of Republican Gabe Evans. The week before he spoke at a dairy farm in western Wisconsin about the benefits of drinking whole milk alongside Republican Derrick Van Orden. (Paun, 6/16)
