Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Health/Medical

OBBB Signed Into Law

Posted on

President Donald Trump signed his “One Big, Beautiful Bill” into law during the July 4th picnic on the White House grounds, enacting a sweeping multitrillion-dollar legislative package that reflects the core of his policy agenda. The measure passed with near-unanimous Republican support in both chambers of Congress following months of negotiations and intense pressure from the president and GOP leadership.

The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boosts funding for immigration enforcement and national defense. To balance the increased spending, the bill imposes substantial reductions to domestic programs, slashing Medicaid and food assistance by $1.2 trillion and cutting billions from federal higher education funding. According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will increase the national deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next decade and result in 11.8 million additional people losing health coverage.

Despite internal dissent and unanimous Democratic opposition, Trump succeeded in pushing the massive reconciliation bill through Congress in time for the July 4th deadline.

 

NIH Pauses Grant Cancellations

Posted on

In an internal NIH memo circulated on Tuesday, Michelle Bulls, who helps oversee the agency’s external funding arm, directed agency staff not to cancel any additional research projects. Bulls instructed staff that, “effective immediately, please do not terminate any additional grant projects.” The memo marks a retreat by the agency, which has slashed funding for medical research and terminated hundreds of awards since the beginning of the Trump administration.

The memo comes in the wake of two important court decisions regarding cuts to federal research funding. A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled last week that some of the administration’s grant cancellations were “void and illegal,” and accused the government of racial discrimination and prejudice against LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the canceling of grants to the University of California on Monday, ruling that the grant terminations violated the First Amendment. The administration is considering appeals to both decisions.

In the meantime, N.I.H. officials said they were continuing to categorize medical research grants based on whether they included topics disfavored by the Trump administration, even if they were not terminating those grants.

 

 

HHS Budget Hearing

Posted on

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will meet in open session at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Room 124 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled: A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Health and Human Services. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be the witness. Live video webcast of the hearing can be found here:  www.appropriations.senate.gov.

 

 

 

Bhattacharya Confirmed as NIH Director

Posted on

On March 25, the Senate voted 53-47, along party lines, to confirm Jayanta Bhattacharya, M.D., PhD to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Following the vote, Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, issued a statement saying “The NIH needs a leader that will restore Americans’ trust in public health institutions and find unbiased solutions to Americans’ most challenging health problems,” and “Dr. Bhattacharya is ready to take on this responsibility and implement President Trump’s vision to Make America Healthy Again.”

NIH & FDA Director Nominees Advance

Posted on

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, was advanced by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The Committee voted 12-11 along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against.

Similarly, Trump’s pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, Marty Makary, was advanced out of the committee by a 14-9 vote, with Democrats Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and John Hickenlooper of Colorado joining all Republicans in voting to advance.

Bhattacharya and Makary will now appear for a confirmation vote before the entire Senate, with the Republican majority all but ensuring that they will be confirmed.