Doctor Who Called Covid Vaccines ‘Dangerous’ Is CDC’s New Deputy Chief
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's internal database lists Dr. Ralph Abraham, 71, as its principal deputy director, with a start date of Nov. 23, The New York Times reported. Abraham is also the former surgeon general of Louisiana and halted the state health department’s mass vaccination campaigns.
The New York Times:
Doctor Critical Of Vaccines Quietly Appointed As C.D.C.’s Second In Command
Dr. Ralph Abraham, who as Louisiana’s surgeon general ordered the state health department to stop promoting vaccinations and who has called Covid vaccines “dangerous,” has been named the second in command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Department of Health and Human Services did not announce the appointment, and many C.D.C. employees seemed unaware of it. But the C.D.C.’s internal database lists Dr. Abraham as the agency’s principal deputy director, with a start date of Nov. 23. The appointment was first reported by the Substack column Inside Medicine. (Mandavilli, 11/25)
More Trump administration updates —
The Hill:
Trump EPA Seeks Court To Overturn Joe Biden's Soot Limits
The Trump administration on Monday asked a federal court to overturn a Biden-era rule limiting deadly soot pollution. In a court filing, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) argued that the Biden-era rule tightening limits was procedurally flawed and therefore should be vacated. It said that the Biden administration took a “shortcut,” making the rule stricter “without the rigorous, stepwise process that Congress required.” (Frazin, 11/25)
Bloomberg:
USDA’s Top Economist To Leave For Missouri Policy Institute
The US Agriculture Department’s top economist is departing from the agency to lead the University of Missouri’s food and agricultural policy institute. Seth Meyer has been the USDA’s chief economist since 2021, helming an office whose responsibilities include the market-moving monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. Meyer will be leading the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute starting Jan. 1, succeeding Pat Westhoff, who is retiring in March, the University of Missouri said in a Tuesday release. (Peng, 11/25)
Bloomberg:
How Trump’s Fight Against Fentanyl Turns To India From China
As US-India relations began to sour earlier this year, drug-control experts briefed officials in the Trump administration on how the South Asian nation fit into the murky trade in chemicals used to make fentanyl. Among the topics of discussion was whether India’s growing role in supply chains of the deadly opioid could be used to justify new tariffs on the nation’s goods, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the consultations were confidential. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on those discussions. (Strumpf and Palepu, 11/26)
CNN:
The US Has Released An ‘America First Global Health Strategy.’ Health Experts Warn It Is Risky
Health experts are warning that the Trump administration’s new “America First Global Health Strategy” could further damage public health systems already reeling from billions of dollars in foreign aid cuts following the destruction of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and while some say the new system could bring benefits, there is agreement it marks a radical change in approach from decades of US policy. (Kent and Hansler, 11/26)
The New York Times:
Transportation Chief Wants Healthier In-Flight Snack Options
Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, has been urging people for the past week to dress and comport themselves better as a way of restoring “civility” to air travel. On Tuesday, he added another item to his list of concerns: the quality of the snacks handed out on commercial flights. In an interview posted Tuesday on the conservative news site Blaze Media, Mr. Duffy said he would prefer that airlines offered options that are not heavy on butter, sugar or what he described as “crap.” He finds the standard choices of cookies or small bags of pretzels lacking, he said. (Walker, 11/25)
The New York Times:
Signs Of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities Of Aging In Office
President Trump has always used his stamina and energy as a political strength. But that image is getting harder for him to sustain. (Rogers and Freedman, 11/25)
