Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Confirmed As CDC Director, Dr. Erica Schwartz Faces Uphill Battle In Role
Stat: Dr. Erica Schwartz Confirmed As New CDC Director On 51-44 Vote
Erica Schwartz was confirmed Wednesday as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making her the second permanent leader of the agency since the second Trump administration took office. (Cirruzzo, 8/5)
The 19th: Dr. Erica Schwartz Faces An Uphill Battle As New CDC Director
Dr. Erica Schwartz will be the first Black woman to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, promising that she will show “radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity” in the role. But she faces political headwinds and practical challenges as she starts the job. (Rodriguez, 8/5)
More health news from the Trump administration —
The New York Times: Trump Seeks A Boost For Hemp That Would Benefit A Top Aide’s Family
The White House is lobbying Congress for a reprieve from a ban it approved last year on potent intoxicating hemp products, seeking a delay whose beneficiaries would include the son-in-law of Susie Wiles, President Trump’s chief of staff. Under pressure from the administration, senators tucked the delay into a stopgap spending measure they are working to pass this week in an effort to head off a government shutdown at the end of September. (Vogel, Jewett and Diaz, 8/5)
Stat: Federal Regulators Invite Industry, Lobbyists To Closed-Door Meetings On Clinical AI
Federal health officials held closed-door conversations with prominent technology companies last month as the health department and its subagencies aim to safely boost adoption of clinical artificial intelligence. (Aguilar, 8/5)
AP: Trump Administration Awards $150M Migrant Child Contract To Texas Firm
The Trump administration has awarded a $150 million contract to give legal representation to migrant children traveling alone to the U.S. to a small Texas law firm with ties to the administration but little experience in immigration law, prompting legal aid groups who’ve long represented those children to warn that the move could make them vulnerable to deportation. ... The providers have increasingly raised worries that children won’t have the experienced legal help they need at a time when the administration is intensifying efforts to remove people from the country. (Santana, Gonzalez, Mayes-Osterman and Foley, 8/6)
