Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
All HHS Workers Laid Off During Shutdown Have Been Brought Back
The Hill: HHS Officially Rescinds Shutdown Layoffs
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has brought back everyone it laid off during the government shutdown, a top official told a California federal court Friday. The agency’s Office of Human Resources on Nov. 17 emailed the 954 employees who received reduction in force (RIF) notices during the shutdown informing them that those notices had been rescinded and that they “should return to work on their next regularly scheduled workday,” wrote Thomas Nagy Jr., HHS deputy assistant secretary for human resources, in a court filing. Those 954 employees were set to receive their retroactive pay for the entire shutdown period, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, Nagy wrote. (Weixel, 11/24)
On the immigration crisis —
ProPublica: ICE Has Placed A Record 600 Immigrant Kids In Federal Shelters This Year
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the country, often after little more than a traffic stop. (Rosenberg, Ariza, Funk, Ernsthausen and Sandoval, 11/24)
The New York Times: Deported And Desperate To Be Reunited With Their Children
The 11-year-old from Venezuela was alone in his Texas home, waiting for his mother, who had been detained by U.S. immigration officials. She would never come back. The boy, Emmanuel Leandro Caicedo Venecia, ended up living by himself for three months this summer, attending school, even walking to his fifth-grade graduation to collect his diploma, his mother said. A neighbor brought food, but Emmanuel mostly fended for himself. (Ferré-Sadurní, Turkewitz and Herrera, (11/25)
The New York Times: Drug Arrests And Gun Seizures Fell As Homeland Security Pursued Immigration
Amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown, special agents at the Homeland Security Department have made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than they did the previous fiscal year, according to internal government documents reviewed by The New York Times. The data comes from an internal report by Homeland Security Investigations, the agency’s crime-fighting arm. The report offers a comparison of enforcement statistics between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, and the same period during the previous year. That time frame includes roughly four months of the Biden administration and eight months of the Trump administration. (Aleaziz, Nehamas, Keller and Berzon, 11/25)
More health news from the federal government —
Boise State Public Radio News: Bipartisan Healthy Lungs For Heroes Act Would Pave Way For Wildland Fire Respirators
Concerned about the long-term health risks faced by wildland firefighters, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a bill to make respirators available to those workers. (Woodhouse, 11/24)
MedPage Today: FDA 'Priority Voucher' Program Comes Under Congressional Scrutiny
Two members of Congress launched an investigation into FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and his use of "priority vouchers" for expedited drug approvals, suggesting that the voucher program "could undermine public confidence in FDA's decisions and raise safety concerns." "We have significant concerns that this program will enable corruption by creating a new, lucrative gift for drugmakers and allies politically favored by President Trump," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) wrote last Thursday in a letter to Makary. (Frieden, 11/24)
Stat: Federal Biotech Commission Urges An Overhaul Of Research Funding
A federal commission is calling for significant changes to the way the U.S. government funds and assesses scientific research. (DeAngelis, 11/25)
Politico: Kyrsten Sinema Is Ready For Her MAHA Turn
Kyrsten Sinema’s old enemies on the left better brace themselves: The former senator is now embracing psychedelics and cozying up to MAHA. After infuriating progressives time and again for stonewalling their priorities, the Arizona Democrat-turned-Independent decided not to seek reelection last year and instead became a senior adviser at the law and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells. She’s since taken up the cause of psychedelic medicine — pro bono, she says. (Schumaker, 11/23)
