Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Clinical Trial Diversity Caught In Crossfire Of Trump's Ban On DEI
Stat: FDA Purges Clinical Trial Diversity Pages
An effort by the Trump administration to pull down Food and Drug Administration website pages focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion has ensnared many pages focused on ensuring that clinical trials used to test drugs and medical devices include people of different ethnic and economic backgrounds. ... The scrubbing of clinical trial-related pages is notable because of how it could affect the ways researchers both inside and outside government, as well as companies, test drugs and medical devices. (Herper and Lawrence, 1/23)
On HHS and Veterans Affairs —
Modern Healthcare: RFK Jr. Confirmation Hearing Date Set For Jan. 29
The controversial nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services is set to move forward next week when he will face questioning from a pair of Senate committees. Kennedy is among the least-certain of President Donald Trump's nominees to be confirmed. Democrats, who cannot block Kennedy on their own, are expected to largely but not unanimously oppose him, and some Republicans have expressed concerns about Kennedy's views on vaccines and his past support for abortion rights. (McAuliff, 1/23)
CBS News: Trump Administration Expected To Go Outside CDC For Acting Director
The Trump administration is expected to tap Susan Coller Monarez, the deputy director of a federal health research agency, to serve as the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multiple health officials tell CBS News. Picking Monarez would close an unprecedented leadership gap atop the CDC, which is tasked with tracking and responding to a myriad of emerging diseases and health emergencies. Other health agencies have also been operating without acting heads. (Tin, 1/23)
MedPage Today: Trump's Gag Order Halts CDC Publication
For the first time in its more than 60-year history, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) did not go out as scheduled because of a communications pause at federal health agencies issued by the Trump administration. Past editors of MMWR and prior leaders of CDC lamented the lack of publication, and its potential impact on the distribution of vital public health information. (Robertson, 1/23)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What The Health?': Creating Chaos At HHS
President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday and by Wednesday had virtually stopped scientific policymaking at the Department of Health and Human Services. While incoming administrations often pause public communications, the acting HHS head ordered an unprecedented shutdown of all outside meetings, travel, and publications. Meanwhile, Trump issued a broad array of mostly nonbinding executive orders, but notably none directly concerning abortion. (Rovner, 1/23)
Military.com: VA Declares 300,000 Health Care Jobs Exempt From Ordered Freeze On Federal Hiring
More than 300,000 Department of Veterans Affairs health care jobs are exempt from a federal hiring freeze instituted Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump. Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Todd Hunter issued a memo Jan. 21 containing instructions for the department to comply with Trump's executive order, issued shortly after he was sworn into office. (Kime, 1/23)
On birthright citizenship and immigration —
The New York Times: A Judge Halted Trump’s Plan To End Birthright Citizenship
A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order declaring that children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants would no longer be treated as citizens. The judge, John Coughenour, sided with states that had sued Trump arguing that the president’s order violated the 14th Amendment. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” he said today. “Frankly,” Judge Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, added, “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar would state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It just boggles my mind.” (Cullen, 1/23)
New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Medical Society Speaks Out Against Policy Allowing ICE Arrests At Hospitals
The New Hampshire Medical Society is speaking out against the Trump administration’s decision to allow immigration arrests at hospitals, saying it could deter patients from seeking care. “We saw this in previous years, where there was increased and heightened threat of deportation, that resulted in delay of seeking treatment by patients with immigrant status within the state,” said Dr. Marie-Elizabeth Ramas, a board member and the medical society’s president-elect. (Cuno-Booth, 1/23)
Axios: Analysis Of 40 Cities Shows Violent Crime Dropped In 2024: Report
Violent crime in 40 U.S. cities dropped in 2024 to at or near pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report out Thursday that shows the COVID-era crime wave evaporating. President Trump has falsely asserted that immigration caused rising crime nationwide, but the new report suggests crime fell dramatically in President Biden's last two years — even below levels of Trump's last year in office. (Contreras, 1/23)
