“A new Covid variant that’s gaining momentum globally has landed in the U.S.,” NBC News reports.
“The World Health Organization announced last week that it was monitoring the variant, NB.1.8.1, following a rise in cases in several parts of the world, including Europe, Southeast Asia and North and South America.”
“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s surprise announcement Tuesday ending coronavirus vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women blindsided the agency that offers that advice,” the Washington Post reports.
“Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scrambling to understand Kennedy’s decision, announced in a 58-second video on X on Tuesday morning, which took agency staff by surprise.”
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Commission report harnesses ‘gold-standard’ science, citing more than 500 studies and other sources to back up its claims. Those citations, though, are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions,” NOTUS reports.
“Seven of the cited sources don’t appear to exist at all.”
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“The Department of Health and Human Services has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract with the company to develop, test, and license vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics, including the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus,” Stat reports.
“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he could bar government scientists from publishing in the world’s leading medical journals, instead proposing the creation of ‘in-house’ publications by his agency — the latest in the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific institutions,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Kennedy: “We’re probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and those other journals, because they’re all corrupt.”
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped recommending routine Covid-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children,” Reuters reports.
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a video posted on social media platform X that the vaccines have been removed from the CDC’s immunization schedule for those groups.”
Politico: “Laced throughout the report from Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again Commission are accusations against doctors — for reportedly being influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to overprescribe certain medications and for failing to treat the root causes of disease.”
President Trump said that autism must not occur naturally, citing figures inflating the spike in autism and suggesting the administration’s Make America Healthy Again Commission could provide answers, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “When you hear 10,000, it was 1 in 10,000, and now it’s 1 in 31 for autism, I think that’s just a terrible thing. It has to be something on the outside, has to be artificially induced, has to be.”
“The White House blamed exposure to environmental toxins, poor nutrition, and increased screen time for a decline in Americans’ life expectancy Thursday, in a major administration report that also casts doubt on the current vaccine schedule and medications deemed safe by most in mainstream medicine,” the Washington Post reports.
The report also declared that “today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease.”
“House Republicans’ attempt to curb Medicaid as part of President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax-and-spending bill has opened up a constellation of intraparty fights that are complicating the GOP-controlled Congress’s efforts to advance the sweeping legislation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The fight over Medicaid—how deeply and quickly to trim the program that serves more than 70 million people—helped snarl progress Friday on getting the megabill to the House floor. Spending-hawk holdouts on the Budget Committee blocked the measure, setting the stage for further talks into the weekend. But even if the bill makes it through the House by leaders’ self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, more battles are expected in the Senate.”
Washington Post: “Operatives at the National Republican Congressional Committee and consultants working on House races think vulnerable Republican House members should simplify their message and argue they are rooting out fraud and abuse inside the health-care program to ensure it serves the Americans who need it the most, instead of just weathering attacks that the Republican-backed catchall bill working its way through Congress represents dramatic cuts to Medicaid.”
“If Republicans stick to their current strategy for funding their tax cut bill, the midterm elections are heading toward a fight over something different altogether: health care,” Semafor reports.
“The House GOP’s move to slash $715 billion in Medicaid and other health care spending is igniting familiar timber in the halls of Congress. Health care activists are protesting Republicans, Democrats are syncing up a unified message, and some in the GOP are pointedly questioning their leaders’ plans.”
“Florida has become the second state to officially ban fluoride in public water,” NBC News reports.
Gov. Ron DeSantis called the fluoridation of water “forced medication,” saying it violates “informed consent.”
Tampa Bay Times: “The move to block fluoride has been decried by major health organizations, who warn that it would negatively affect residents’ health.”
“Lawmakers are investigating whether Pfizer waited to share results of the Covid vaccine in 2020 until after that year’s presidential election, based on new allegations that a former Pfizer scientist has said he was part of an effort to ‘deliberately slow down’ the testing, according to a new letter from the House Judiciary Committee,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The House panel is seeking information from Pfizer and from the scientist, Philip Dormitzer, after learning he allegedly told colleagues in 2024 at a subsequent job he was worried he would face an investigation of his role in the vaccine’s release and asked to be relocated to Canada.”
“President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner,” the AP reports.
“Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law.”
“I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”
— Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quoted by the Washington Post.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during Wednesday testimony before a House panel that he would “probably” vaccinate his child for measles, if he had one today, Axios reports.
New York Times: “Kennedy had several sharp exchanges with lawmakers in his first testimony before Congress since becoming health secretary.”
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom will unveil a budget plan on Wednesday that would cut health care benefits for undocumented immigrants,” NBC News reports.
“The proposed plan, which Newsom’s office said would help to balance the state’s budget, would be a stark reversal of the Democratic governor’s promises of universal health care for all, including ‘all low-income adults’ regardless of their immigration status.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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