Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Feds Scrapping Office That Researched, Coordinated Response To Long Covid
Politico: Trump Administration Shuttering Long Covid Office
The Trump administration is shuttering HHS’ long Covid office as part of its reorganization, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. The email was sent Monday by Ian Simon, the head of the Office of Long Covid Research and Practice. It said the closing is part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ reorganization. (Gardner and Ollstein, 3/24)
More from the Trump administration —
Stat: NIH Removing Outside Scientific Advisers Who Evaluate Research
Prominent outside scientists who help the National Institutes of Health evaluate its internal research programs are being abruptly removed, according to five advisers whose positions were terminated and a recording of an internal meeting obtained by STAT. (Molteni and Mast, 3/24)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Block Order Reinstating Federal Employees
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a judge’s order requiring it to reinstate more than 16,000 federal employees, as administration officials vow to seek the justices’ intervention in clearing away lower-court rulings that have slowed Trump policies. In her Supreme Court brief, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argues that the case should have been thrown out of court because it was filed by labor unions and other organizations rather than the terminated employees themselves. (Bravin, 3/24)
ProPublica: NIH Ends Funding To Study The Health Effects Of Climate Change
The National Institutes of Health will no longer be funding work on the health effects of climate change, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica. The guidance, which was distributed to several staffers last week, comes on the back of multiple new directives to cut off NIH funding to grants that are focused on subjects that are viewed as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities, such as gender identity, LGBTQ+ issues, vaccine hesitancy, and diversity, equity and inclusion. (Waldman and Lerner, 3/24)
Axios: The Trump Administration Wants More Studies Replicated. That Won't Be Easy
The Trump administration wants to spend more federal dollars replicating medical research. A key question will be which studies get repeated and, with limited resources, at what expense. Many findings can't be replicated — a problem scientists say needs to be addressed. But it could also consume increasingly scarce resources as the administration cuts spending and freezes federal grants. (Snyder, 3/24)
The Washington Post: European Universities Compete To Poach Top U.S. Scientists
Europe is investing millions in a flurry of newly announced academic programs, in an energetic effort to lure top American scientists across the Atlantic at the same time as President Donald Trump casts many U.S. research efforts into turmoil with funding cuts and executive edicts. Spurred by “alarming political interference in academic research by the Trump administration,” Brussels’s Vrije Universiteit (VUB), or Free University, allocated $2.7 million in funding last week for at least 12 new postdoctoral roles open to “censored Americans.” (Sands, 3/24)
On veterans' health care —
Military.com: As Pentagon's Top Health Nominee Prepares For Confirmation Hearing, One Senator Has A Lot Of Questions
Ahead of his confirmation hearing Thursday to become assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Keith Bass is facing tough questions from a prominent Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Bass, a retired Navy commander and substance abuse counselor who previously led the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Medical Services and the White House Medical Unit, was nominated Dec. 22 to manage the Defense Department's $61 billion health system, which serves 9.5 million beneficiaries, including 1.3 million active-duty troops. (Kime, 3/24)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: A Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Moving To Fire 2 Transgender Air Force Members
A federal judge on Monday agreed to temporarily block President Donald Trump's administration from initiating proceedings that could lead to the firing of two transgender men serving in the U.S. Air Force — the latest legal setback in the administration's push to implement sweeping changes in the military. The decision by U.S. District Judge Christine P. O'Hearn came less than a week after the men — Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade — sued to try to prevent their impending dismissal under Trump's executive order seeking to bar transgender people from serving in the military. They filed suit in New Jersey because Bade is stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County, and Ireland recently was stationed there for a training program. (Palmer, 3/24)
Military.com: Families At Utah Air Force Base Lose Day Care Center As Pentagon Slashes Personnel Spending
Hill Air Force Base in Utah -- the service's second-largest base by population and size -- has closed one of its two day care centers, harming quality of life for some service members, civilian employees and their families following hiring freezes ordered by President Donald Trump's administration. (Novelly, 3/24)
