Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Furloughed Federal Workers Reinstated Months After DOGE Cost-Cutting Blitz
AP: Trump Administration Rehires Hundreds Of Federal Employees Laid Off By DOGE
Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work. The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA in some cases racked up high costs — passed along to taxpayers — to stay in dozens of properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire. (Goodman and Foley, 9/23)
San Francisco Chronicle: Judge Orders Trump Administration To Restore UC Research Grants
A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore more than $500 million it withdrew in research grants from UCLA and other University of California schools that it accused of unduly favoring racial and gender minorities and allowing antisemitism on campus. The Trump administration froze more than $324 million in research funding to UCLA on Aug. 1 and said the university would have to pay the government $1 billion and change its admission policies to recover the money. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin of San Francisco had previously ruled that the administration failed to justify the funding cutoffs, and on Monday she ordered three federal agencies to return grants it had withdrawn from researchers in science, health and the environment. (Egelko, 9/23)
On drug prices, homelessness, immigration, and women in the military —
Axios: Trump's "Most Favored Nation" Plan: Drugmakers Meet President Halfway On Drug Prices
Big drug companies so far are responding to President Trump's demand they commit to his "most favored nation" pricing policy by raising prices abroad without cutting them in the U.S. Why it matters: That only gets halfway toward Trump's goal of ending what he calls "global freeloading" and getting other developed countries to foot more of the cost while lowering costs for Americans. (Sullivan, 9/24)
NPR: Does Trump's Plan To Get Homeless People Off The Streets Violate Civil Liberties?
President Trump is promising to sweep homeless people off America’s streets. One controversial part of his plan could force thousands of people into institutions where they would be treated “long-term” for for addiction and mental illness. Critics say the policy raises big concerns about civil liberties and cost. But parts of this idea - known as “civil commitment” are gaining traction with some Democratic leaders. (Donevan and Ryan, 9/23)
AP: Veterans Who Aren't Citizens Fear Being Swept Up In Trump's Deportations
After serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq, Julio Torres has the American flag and Marine Corps insignia tattooed on his arms to show his pride in serving a country he calls home. And after struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, drug addiction and a related criminal charge following his deployment, the 44-year-old has found new purpose as a pastor preaching a message of freedom to those facing similar problems. But these days, his community in East Texas feels more like jail than the land of the free. As President Donald Trump works to carry out his mass deportation agenda, Torres, who was born in Mexico and migrated legally to the U.S. when he was five years old, is afraid to venture far from home. (Groves, 9/24)
Politico: Hegseth Axes Panel That Encourages Women To Enter Military
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has shuttered a nearly century-old committee created to expand the role of women in the military, part of a broader effort to redefine the image of the armed forces. The closure of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services — one of dozens of study groups that offer guidance to the secretary — is Hegseth’s latest effort to rid the Pentagon of efforts that don’t fit into his “warrior ethos” vision for the department and service academies. (Mcleary, 9/23)
In updates from Capitol Hill —
Politico: House Centrists Attempt Quiet Rescue Of Obamacare Subsidy Talks
House centrists are discussing the outlines of a possible compromise to extend Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies in hopes of jump-starting stalled talks over the soon-to-expire tax credits that have also emerged as a key fault line in the brewing government shutdown battle. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus has privately broached whether an income cap should be imposed on who can benefit from the subsidies. Several Republicans in the group have floated a $200,000 cap, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the talks. (Hill and Guggenheim, 9/23)
Politico: Republican Lawmakers Face Internal Rift Over Abortion
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill were already looking at a messy political battle over the looming expiration of billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies. Then the anti-abortion advocates showed up. With a possible government shutdown less than a week away, Democrats’ big ask is that Republicans agree to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were expanded by Congress in 2021 and are set to sunset at the end of the year. But now prominent anti-abortion groups are wading into the debate, pounding the halls of Congress to make their case that the enhanced tax credits for ACA insurance premiums function as an indirect subsidy for services designed to end pregnancies. The argument could make conservative Republicans who already loathed the policy dig in further against greenlighting an extension. (Guggenheim, Hill and Ollstein, 9/24)
The Washington Post: A Shutdown Would Give Trump More Power Over Federal Spending
The Trump administration would have broad authority to make decisions about spending if the government shuts down next week — and it would also have broad authority to make those decisions if the government stays open under a long-term funding extension. Congress has operated under such an extension for months and is trying to pass another short-term extension, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, before federal funding laws expire. Without action, a shutdown would start Oct. 1 just after midnight. (Bogage and Beggin, 9/23)
