Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Set To Order Education Department Shutdown; Millions Of Youths With Disabilities Left In Lurch
NBC News: Trump Set To Sign Executive Order Shuttering The Education Department
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Education Department, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle the federal agency, the White House confirmed. Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "return education authority to the States.” ... Formally closing the department requires an act of Congress. But even without formally shutting it down, the Trump administration could effectively make it nearly impossible for employees to carry out their work, as it has done with the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Haake, Egwuonwu and Kingkade, 3/19)
Vox: What Dismantling The Education Department Means For Kids With Disabilities
Amid the upheaval, one thing is clear: Any plan to shut down the Education Department — and, indeed, the cuts and layoffs that have already happened — will disproportionately hurt students with disabilities. That includes kids who receive special education, but also those in general education classrooms who get supports or accommodations to learn, from speech therapy to sign language interpreters to counseling. Any kid who has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan through their school could be affected by what’s going on at the Education Department. That’s a huge group of kids. As of 2022–2023, 7.5 million students — 15 percent of all those enrolled in public school — received special education or related services (like speech therapy) under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The most common reasons were specific learning disabilities like dyslexia. (North, 3/13)
More on the budget cuts and funding freeze —
Politico: Trump Aides Circulate Plan For Complete Revamp Of Foreign Aid Programs
Some Trump administration officials have crafted a proposal to restructure the U.S. international aid and development architecture, making it leaner, more focused and better positioned to take on China. ...The proposal says existing U.S. aid and development programming is “inefficient and fragmented.” ... A better approach, the plan says, would be to “foster peace and stability in regions critical to U.S. interests, catalyze economic opportunities that support American businesses and consumers, and mitigate global threats such as pandemic diseases.” (Toosi and Lippman, 3/19)
Politico: Trump Drastically Cutting Back Annual Human Rights Report
The Trump administration is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and more. The goal appears to be a far thinner report that meets the minimum standards required by the law, according to documents obtained by POLITICO, as well as a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan. (Toosi, 3/19)
Stat: AHRQ, A Small HHS Agency, Likely Target For DOGE Cuts
A small government agency responsible for putting medical products and services to practical use and making health care safe is feared to be the latest target for mass layoffs by the Trump administration. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has about 300 employees and a budget of $369 million, which is about 0.02% of what the government spends on health care. But AHRQ hasn’t escaped the notice of the DOGE Service, which has been slashing agency payrolls and budgets across the government. (Wilkerson, 3/20)
Stat: ME/CFS Research Program Shuts Down At Columbia Over Trump Cuts
A large research program into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS, has been forced to shut down because of Trump administration cuts earlier this month to Columbia University’s funding, one of its top researchers said. (Cueto, 3/19)
KFF Health News: Amid Plummeting Diversity At Medical Schools, A Warning Of DEI Crackdown’s ‘Chilling Effect’
The Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI programs could exacerbate an unexpectedly steep drop in diversity among medical school students, even in states like California, where public universities have been navigating bans on affirmative action for decades. Education and health experts warn that, ultimately, this could harm patient care. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has issued a handful of executive orders aimed at terminating all diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives in federally funded programs. (Sciacca, 3/20)
On food safety —
The New York Times: Food Safety Jeopardized By Onslaught Of Funding And Staff Cuts
In the last few years, foodborne pathogens have had devastating consequences that alarmed the public. ... In each outbreak, state and federal officials connected the dots from each sick person to a tainted product and ensured the recalled food was pulled off the shelves. Some of those employees and their specific roles in ending outbreaks are now threatened by Trump administration measures to increase government efficiency, which come on top of cuts already being made by the Food and Drug Administration’s chronically underfunded food division. (Jewett, 3/19)
