Top News
Senate Confirms RFK Jr. As Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services in a 52-48 vote, with only Republican Senator Mitch McConnell joining Democrats in opposition due to his long-standing anti-vaccine activism. The newly confirmed secretary has vowed to overhaul the department by aggressively regulating food additives, environmental chemicals, and pharmaceutical industry practices. His plans include restructuring the FDA, banning direct-to-consumer drug ads, and shifting the National Institutes of Health’s focus from infectious to chronic diseases. In accordance with his confirmation, reporting indicates that President Trump will sign an executive order creating the Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Mr. Kennedy, to assess pediatric chronic disease within 100 days, propose a strategy to address them within 180 days, and prioritize transparency, research integrity, affordable nutrition, and expanded treatment options.
Throughout his nomination, public health leaders have been concerned by his history of promoting vaccine misinformation. His confirmation process also highlighted a lack of specific understanding of key federal health programs including Medicare and Medicaid, raising concerns about his plans for those programs. The confirmation marked a significant political shift, with Republicans backing his nomination despite concerns over his previous public stances on pharmaceutical regulation, abortion, and vaccines, while Democrats opposed him due to his controversial previous positions and new alliance with President Trump.
House Passes Midnight Rules Relief Act to Streamline Overturning Late-Term Regulations
The Midnight Rules Relief Act (H.R. 77) was passed in the House by a vote of 216-205 on February 11, 2025, after a vote of 210-184 agreed to the previous question. The bill, reported by the Rules Committee on February 10 with a 9-2 vote, allows Congress to overturn multiple last-minute executive regulations—known as “Midnight Rules”—in a single resolution rather than handling each one individually under the existing Congressional Review Act (CRA). This change aims to prevent an overwhelming regulatory backlog and enhance congressional oversight of executive rulemaking, regardless of the administration in power. Supporters argue that H.R. 77 provides a necessary check on federal bureaucracy and increases legislative efficiency by addressing the surge of regulations often issued in the final months of a presidency.
Federal Judge Further Restricts DOGE Access to Treasury Records
A federal judge blocked Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) officials, including Elon Musk, from accessing sensitive Treasury records while legal proceedings are underway in New York. United States District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer agreed with the 19 Democratic state Attorneys General argument that Trump administration policies allowing DOGE employees to access to the Department of Treasury’s sensitive payment systems risked the security and privacy of Americans’ sensitive personal and financial information. Last week, District of Columbia District Court Judge Kollar-Kotelly restricted
Democratic Lawmakers Request Investigation into DOGE Access to Sensitive Health Data
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) sent letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General, the Acting Secretary of HHS, and the Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). They requested an investigation into the access granted to the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to sensitive health care data within HHS and CMS. In the letter to the HHS Principal Deputy Inspector General, lawmakers called for an immediate investigation, citing concerns over the potential misuse of personal health records and unauthorized interference in federal health programs. The lawmakers’ letter to the Acting HHS Secretary and CMS Administrator seeks clarification on the reasons for DOGE’s access to data systems that manage $1.5 trillion in payments for Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs serving over 160 million Americans. They emphasized the importance of maintaining appropriate oversight and safeguards to ensure that sensitive personal and health information is handled in accordance with federal regulations. With concerns about the Trump Administration’s lack of transparency regarding DOGE’s role, lawmakers emphasized the need for oversight to protect patient privacy and prevent the exploitation of federal health data for personal or political gain.
Congressional Action
- The House Budget committee released their draft budget resolution, which would raise the federal debt ceiling to 4 trillion dollars, facilitating a 2-year extension. Over the next decade, the proposed budget resolution would cut federal spending by 1.5 trillion dollars and offer 4.5 trillion dollars in tax breaks. Notably, the reconciliation bill’s instructions call for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut at least 880 billion dollars in spending which would likely be achieved through extensive reductions to Medicaid program spending. At the same time, the Senate Budget Committee is marking up its budget reconciliation bill. Senate Budget Chair Lindsay Graham (R-SC) views the Senate bill as a backup option that can be used if the House fails to act quickly on their bill. Unlike the House’s one-bill approach, the Senate is developing two budget reconciliation bills with one focused on border security, defense policy and energy policy and the subsequent bill focused on extending 2017 Republican tax cuts. The House Budget Committee held a markup hearing on Thursday where House Republicans will attempt to move the bill out of committee. If House Republicans are able to pass the draft budget resolution on Thursday, the bill could be moved to the House floor before the end of February after President’s Day. Congressional Republicans are attempting to avoid a Senate filibuster while garnering a simple majority vote on the budget resolution bill(s). To achieve this, Republicans in both chambers must pass identical budget resolutions.
- The House Committee on Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on Modernizing American Health Care: Creating Health Options and Better Incentives. In the hearing, subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan (R-FL) expressed his interest in policy reforms to promote healthy living and reduce the prevalence of chronic health conditions. While Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) agreed on the importance of chronic illness prevention, he condemned actions taken by the Trump administration and Republican caucus designed to weaken the United States’ health care infrastructure and reduce funding for federal health care programs claiming it would harm Americans’ health. Brooks Tingle, Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock Financial, highlighted the importance of life insurance companies in efforts to promote healthy lifestyles. Dr. Jay Carlson, a gynecologic oncologist from Mercy Health, drew attention to the importance of care coordination, data integration, and adoption of health technology innovation. Small business owner and consultant Marcie Strause recommended Congress offer small businesses more flexibility around the health care insurance and financing options they can provide to employees. Protect Our Care Founder and President Leslie Dach called for Congressional Republicans to remove federal health care program spending cuts from the budget reconciliation package and condemned Trump administration financial policies for causing chaos for federally funded health care organizations and health researchers.
