Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Blocks Some Gain-Of-Function Research Funding, Promotes Oversight
NPR: Trump Restricts Funding For Controversial 'Gain-Of-Function' Research
President Trump issued an executive order Monday restricting federal funding for research that involves a controversial field of scientific study known as "gain-of-function" research. The research, which is also known as "dual-use" research, involves experimenting with viruses and other pathogens that have the potential to trigger a pandemic. Those studies could discover how infectious agents might become more transmissible or make people sicker. (Stein, 5/5)
Politico: Trump Administration Bars Harvard From New Federal Research Funding
The Trump administration announced Harvard University is ineligible to receive new research grants from the federal government, the latest escalation in the battle between the White House and the prestigious university. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, in a letter sent Monday to Harvard President Alan Garber, slammed the institution for “engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law” and advised him that the university won’t be eligible for the funds. (Quilantan, 5/5)
CBS News: National Institutes Of Health Lays Off Hundreds More Staff, Including At Cancer Research Institute
The National Institutes of Health has laid off hundreds more staff, multiple current and laid-off employees of the health agency told CBS News, including at its cancer research institute. Around 200 employees began receiving layoff notices Friday evening, said three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The move surprised NIH officials, since the department previously claimed no further cuts were planned at the agency. (Tin, 5/5)
Stat: Europe Unveils $565 Million Package To Retain Scientists, And Attract New Ones
The European Commission on Monday unveiled a roughly $565 million package to retain and attract scientists, as other countries try to leverage the Trump administration’s dismantling of research programs in the U.S. to build up their own enterprises. (Joseph, 5/5)
More on the cuts —
Modern Healthcare: FEMA Cuts Leave Hospital Disaster Preparedness Funding In Limbo
The federal government's cuts to disaster preparedness grant funding will cost providers millions of dollars and potentially jeopardize patient care. President Donald Trump’s administration last month eliminated roughly $3.3 billion in annual federal grants when the Federal Emergency Management Agency ended the 2025 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities and Flood Mitigation Assistance programs. (Kacik, 5/5)
ProPublica: Internal VA Emails Reveal How Trump Jeopardizes Veterans’ Care
Earlier this year, doctors at Veterans Affairs hospitals in Pennsylvania sounded an alarm. Sweeping cuts imposed by the Trump administration, they told higher-ups in an email, were causing “severe and immediate impacts,” including to “life-saving cancer trials.” The email said more than 1,000 veterans would lose access to treatment for diseases ranging from metastatic head and neck cancers, to kidney disease, to traumatic brain injuries. (Umansky and Coleman, 5/6)
Bloomberg: DOL Cutting Mental Health, Child Care Benefits For Own Employees
The US Department of Labor has told staff it is terminating benefit programs supporting mental health and dependent care, with most of the cuts scheduled to take effect this week. DOL’s Worklife4You program, which offers prenatal kits for expecting parents, nurse visits to help with eldercare, and personal finance and wellness advice, is being discontinued effective May 9, a DOL labor relations specialist informed union officials in a March message viewed by Bloomberg News. (Eidelson, 5/5)
ProPublica: Trump Decimates NOAA Lab Protecting Great Lakes From Toxic Algae Blooms
The Trump administration’s slashing of budgets and staff have Great Lakes scientists concerned that they have lost the ability to protect the public from toxic algal blooms, which can kill animals and sicken people. (Clark, 5/6)
KFF Health News: HIV Testing And Outreach Falter As Trump Funding Cuts Sweep The South
Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring. (Maxmen, 5/6)
Also —
CNN: More Than A Dozen States, DC Sue Trump Administration Over ‘Dismantling’ Of Federal Health Agencies
Democratic attorneys general across 19 states and Washington, DC, have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal health officials, alleging that the agency’s restructuring endangers the American public after several public health programs were dismantled and thousands of federal health workers fired in the process. (Howard, 5/5)
