Kennedy Ousts Two Top HHS Aides; NIH Overhauls Advisory Roles

Stat: HHS Leadership Shakeup: Kennedy Fires Top Aides 
Two top aides to Health and Human Services Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were dismissed from their roles this week after just months on the job. Both Heather Flick Melanson, chief of staff, and Hannah Anderson, deputy chief of staff for policy, were let go, HHS confirmed. (Cirruzzo, 7/16)

MedPage Today: The NIH Undergoes More Shake-Ups
July has been a month of shake-ups for the NIH, with advisory council scientists dismissed, the Advisory Committee to the Director disbanded, and research perceived to be risky put on pause, according to reports. NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists who were about to take positions on advisory councils, Nature reported. These groups make final decisions on funding grant applications for the agency. (Fiore, 7/16)

The Washington Post: Trump Officials Halt ‘Dangerous’ NIH Research, Overriding Career Scientists
In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office surrounded by his top health officials, vowing a crackdown on “dangerous gain-of-function research” on viruses and pathogens that he alleged was occurring in the United States with inadequate oversight. “It’s a big deal,” Trump had said, alluding to the highly contested theory that the covid pandemic was caused by a lab leak related to such research in China. Soon after, researchers at the National Institutes of Health spent weeks assessing experiments for risk and preparing a report for the White House on what studies to halt. (Natanson, Johnson and Achenbach, 7/16)

Regarding fentanyl, HHS nominee, foreign aid, and housing assistance —

The Hill: Donald Trump Signs Law Cracking Down On Fentanyl Trafficking
President Trump on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal fentanyl and toughening prison sentences for those who traffic the drug. Trump signed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act at a White House ceremony, where he was joined by lawmakers and individuals whose family members have died from fentanyl overdoses. The president called the bill signing a “historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge as we sign the HALT Fentanyl Act into law.” (Samuels, 7/16)

NPR: U.S. Fentanyl Overdose Programs To Be Funded "In Increments"
The White House says a key national fentanyl overdose prevention grant program, currently underfunded by roughly $140 million, will eventually be fully paid for, but with a catch. A protestor is holding a sign that says, "End overdose deaths now." There are very tall buildings on both sides of her and blue skies behind her. (Mann, 7/17)

MedPage Today: Vaccines, Transgender Care, COVID: Senators' Questions For HHS Nominee Run The Gamut
Brian Christine, MD, the Trump administration's nominee for assistant secretary for health, fielded questions on a wide variety of topics at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which was holding the hearing, asked Christine about the reconciliation bill President Trump signed into law July 4. Sanders wanted to know whether Christine, a urologic surgeon from Mountain Brook, Alabama, thought the law would "help make America healthy again" if it throws 17 million Americans -- many of whom are on Medicaid -- off of their health insurance. (Frieden, 7/16)

NPR: Rescission Of Foreign Aid Linked To 'Waste, Fraud And Abuse.' Is There Proof?
The Trump administration says it has a compelling reason to ask the Senate to claw back $7.9 billion in foreign aid funds that Congress had approved prior to his taking office: evidence of what President Trump called "billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse" that his staff had uncovered. It's an issue that comes to a head this week, with the Senate about to vote on the rescission of the nearly $8 billion (as well $1.1 billion allocated to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting). The deadline for a final decision on the package, which was approved by the House of Representatives on June 12, is midnight Friday. (Tanis, 7/16)

AP: Housing Assistance Is At Risk Under Trump's HUD Time Limits Proposal
Amid a worsening national affordable housing and homelessness crisis, President Donald Trump’s administration is determined to reshape HUD’s expansive role providing stable housing for low-income people, which has been at the heart of its mission for generations. The proposed changes include a two-year limit on the federal government’s signature rental assistance programs. At a June congressional budget hearing, HUD Secretary Scott Turner argued policies like time limits will fix waste and fraud in public housing and Section 8 voucher programs. (Ho and Kramon, 7/16)

RFK Jr. and MAHA —

AP: Psychedelics Like MDMA Are Finding A Warm Embrace From Kennedy
For decades, proponents of psychedelic drugs have come to Washington with a provocative message: Illegal, mind-altering substances like LSD and ecstasy should be approved for Americans grappling with depression, trauma and other hard-to-treat conditions. A presidential administration finally seems to agree. “This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting and we are working very hard to make sure that happens within 12 months,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently told members of Congress. (Perrone, 7/16)

NBC News: Coca-Cola Dodges After Trump Says Soda Will Switch Back To Cane Sugar
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola in the United States will begin to be made with cane sugar, but the company did not explicitly say that was the case when it was asked later about Trump’s claim. Trump said Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social that he had been speaking to Coca-Cola about using cane sugar in the sodas sold in the United States and that the company agreed to his idea. ... But Coca-Cola did not commit to the change when NBC News asked it later about Trump's post. (Cohen and Kopack, 7/17)