Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Unhappy With Zeldin's Performance, MAHA Advocates Want EPA Chief Fired
The New York Times: MAHA Activists Urge Trump To Fire Lee Zeldin At The E.P.A.
Several prominent activists in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement are urging President Trump to fire Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, over his decisions to loosen restrictions on harmful chemicals. In a petition circulated on social media, the activists wrote that Mr. Zeldin “has prioritized the interests of chemical corporations over the well-being of American families and children.” (Joselow, 12/5)
ProPublica: Trump EPA Nearly Doubles Threshold For Safe Formaldehyde Exposure
Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or use them. (Lerner, 12/8)
More MAHA updates —
The New York Times: New Dietary Guidelines Delayed Until Early 2026
The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans will not arrive until early 2026, a representative for the Department of Health and Human Services told The New York Times on Thursday, marking a delay of the release of the government’s official advice on what to eat and drink for good health. For months, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, has promised to overhaul the guidelines. Federal law requires that they are updated every five years; the current edition was supposed to be replaced by the end of 2025. (Callahan, 12/4)
Axios: MAHA Group Begins State Election Endorsements
MAHA Action, a political advocacy group dedicated to advancing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda, made its first state-level election endorsement last week by wading into a key farm state's gubernatorial race. (Goldman, 12/8)
Politico: How Chiropractors Became The Backbone Of MAHA
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the crowd in thrall when he declares, “Chiropractors are my kind of people.” It’s September 2023, and Kennedy is a long-shot presidential contender at the moment, not yet the most powerful health official in the United States. And here at the Mile High conference in Denver, an annual gathering for chiropractors across the world, he is speaking to a receptive audience. (Kim, 12/6)
Other Trump administration news —
Stat: Trump NIH Cuts Threaten America's Next Generation Of Scientists
The MOSAIC program is the type of early-career research grant that checks many of the boxes of the Trump administration. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya listed “training future biomedical scientists” as one of his top priorities, and has spoken often about the need to support researchers at the start of their careers, when they tend to do their most original work. (Oza and Parker, 12/8)
The Washington Post: Trump Pardons Major Drug Traffickers Despite His Anti-Drug Rhetoric
The president has granted clemency to about 100 people accused of drug-related crimes during his two terms in office, a Post analysis shows. (Kornfield and Davies, 12/8)
The New York Times: Hundreds Rally For Boy, 6, Who Was Separated From His Father By ICE
Hundreds of people gathered at a Queens playground on Sunday to protest the federal government’s forced separation of a 6-year-old migrant boy from his father after the two were arrested last month amid President Trump’s deportation crackdown. The boy, Yuanxin Zheng, is among the youngest migrants to be stripped from a parent by federal immigration authorities in New York City since the crackdown began. He and his father, Fei Zheng, were detained at what they believed was a routine check-in on Nov. 26. (Shanahan and Chu, 12/7)
