Labor Department Aims To Do Away With Over 60 Workplace Regulations
These regulations — such as minimum wage requirements, limiting exposure to harmful substances, and lighting at construction sites and mines — will impact workplace safety.
AP:
US Labor Department Picks More Than 60 Rules For Trump's Deregulation Mandate
The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances. If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would affect working conditions at constructions sites and in mines, and limit the government’s ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or killed while engaging in inherently risky activities such as movie stunts or animal training. (Bussewitz, 7/22)
The New York Times:
E.P.A. Is Said To Draft A Plan To End Its Ability To Fight Climate Change
The Trump administration has drafted a plan to repeal a fundamental scientific finding that gives the United States government its authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate change, according to two people familiar with the plan. The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule rescinds a 2009 declaration known as the “endangerment finding,” which scientifically established that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger human lives. (Friedman, 7/22)
The New York Times:
Amid Fear Of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter Of Dissent
More than 140 employees of the National Science Foundation have signed a letter denouncing what they described as efforts to undermine one of the country’s main science funding agencies. They accused the Trump administration of abruptly firing workers, withholding funds and decimating the agency’s budget. Out of fear of retaliation, all but one of the employees’ signatures are redacted. The letter, addressed on Monday to Representative Zoe Lofgren, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, petitioned it to defend the mission of the N.S.F. and its employees. (Robles-Gil, 7/22)
Bloomberg:
Trump To Pull US Out Of UNESCO Again Over 'Woke' Agenda
President Donald Trump plans to withdraw the US from the United Nations body that deals with education, science and culture for a second time, citing an ideological agenda that it says doesn’t serve US national interests. ... State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce highlighted what she called UNESCO’s “outsized focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.” (Martin, 7/22)
In MAHA updates —
Bloomberg:
RFK Jr. Turns To Fringe Medical Journal To Find New Hires
George Tidmarsh is a millionaire co-founder of a biotech firm, serial entrepreneur, neonatologist and adjunct professor at Stanford University. But his part in creating a fringe medical journal is the role that stands out as he takes a top post at the US Food and Drug Administration. Tidmarsh, who will lead the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, is at least the fifth person appointed to a federal health agency under the helm of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this year connected to the Journal of the Academy of Public Health. (Nix, 7/22)
CNN:
Anti-Vaccine Group That Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Founded Files Lawsuit Against Him Over Vaccine Safety Task Force
A nonprofit anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing him, in his capacity as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, for failing to establish a task force to promote the development of safer childhood vaccines. (Tirrell and Owermohle, 7/22)
The Hill:
MAHA Action Launches Ad Campaign For Donald Trump's Health Agenda
MAHA Action, a nonprofit that backs the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, has launched a six-figure ad campaign backing President Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts. “President Trump and Secretary Kennedy have shown incredible courage in taking on powerful interests and putting the health of American families first,” MAHA Action president Tony Lyons said in a statement. (Crisp, 7/22)
The Washington Post:
Is Coke With Cane Sugar Healthier Than With High Fructose Corn Syrup?
In late April, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that “sugar is poison.” Roughly three months later, Kennedy praised Steak ’n Shake for announcing that the fast-food chain would start offering Coca-Cola with real cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The soda company announced Tuesday it would roll out that version of its product in the United States this fall as an additional option for consumers. (Roubein and Gilbert, 7/22)
On the military and immigration—
AP:
Hegseth Tightens Rules On Getting Medical Waivers To Join The US Military
People with congestive heart failure, undergoing treatment for schizophrenia or who have a history of paraphilic disorders will no longer be eligible for a medical waiver to serve in the military, according to new rules issued by the Pentagon on Tuesday. The guidance signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth updates a list of conditions that disqualify potential recruits from serving in the armed forces. The decision comes after the Pentagon announced earlier this year that it would ban transgender troops and review other medical conditions that are currently eligible for a waiver. (Klepper, 7/22)
AP:
NJ Law Banning Immigration Detention Contracts Overturned By US Appeals Court
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday struck down a New Jersey law that bans operators from contracting with the federal government to run immigration detention centers in the state. The 2-1 ruling means the private prison firm CoreCivic Corp. can continue to operate the Elizabeth Detention Center. The ruling marked a victory for President Donald Trump’s administration as it continues a crackdown on immigration around the country that has included efforts to expand a network of detention centers in a bid to ramp up deportations of certain immigrants. (Dale, 7/22)
The Washington Post:
Detention Of Two Italians At ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Sparks Backlash At Home
The detention of two Italian nationals at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the new immigrant detention center in Florida’s Everglades, is sparking criticism from lawmakers in Italy, who are calling on their country’s conservative government to speak out. Gaetano Mirabella Costa and Fernando Artese are being held in “inhuman and degrading” conditions at the facility, Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Party, said on social media, pushing for the men to be repatriated. Angelo Bonelli of the Green Europe party said the two Italians had been “locked in cages, without access to a lawyer, deprived of dignity, water and decent food.” (Vinall, 7/22)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Sam Whitehead reads the week’s news: President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is threatening nursing home staff, and the country’s largest health insurers say they’ll simplify the process they use to decide whether to pay for doctor-ordered care. Zach Dyer reads the week’s news: Federal funding cuts have left some of the nation’s most popular beaches without lifeguards this summer, and new research shows vaccines are good at keeping older adults out of the hospital. (Cook, 7/22)
