RFK Jr.'s MAHA agenda explained
Presented by
WASHINGTON WATCH
President Donald Trump's plan to make huge cuts to health care programs in the coming fiscal year will get its first airing in Congress this week with a marquee witness: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Expect Republican lawmakers to let Kennedy tout his Make America Healthy Again initiative to combat chronic disease, while Democrats hone in on the massive cuts the administration has proposed for the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies.
Look ahead: Kennedy's slated to appear twice on Wednesday, at the House Appropriations Committee in the morning and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the afternoon.
Cuts at HHS agencies were well underway when the Senate confirmed Kennedy to lead the health department in February. During his two confirmation hearings, Kennedy mostly dodged questions about them, saying he hadn't been briefed about the changes.
He won't be able to use the same strategy now that the administration proposed a fiscal 2026 budget plan earlier this month that calls for deep cuts at HHS agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If Kennedy reflects the White House position, he'll say the cuts are about reducing redundancies in cases where more than one HHS agency is performing similar tasks; punishing agencies the administration thinks underperformed during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the NIH; and shutting down programs related to racial and gender characteristics, which it says are divisive, wasteful and unscientific.
Buyer's remorse? Key Republicans have already expressed misgivings about the magnitude of the cuts Trump plans, but they'll give Kennedy a chance to talk about where he plans to spend. The budget plan calls for $500 million to tackle chronic disease through better nutrition, physical activity and reduced reliance on drugs and treatments; help people addicted to their cell phones; and improve scrutiny of food and drug safety and quality.
Kennedy has already moved to ban artificial food dyes, citing evidence they're linked to attention issues in children, and to study the skyrocketing rise in autism diagnoses. Democrats will press Kennedy on whether he's trying to prove what he's long believed, in defiance of scientific consensus, that childhood vaccines are causing it.
What's next? Kennedy is moving fast to implement his Make America Healthy Again plan. On May 24, a MAHA Commission that Trump created will submit an initial assessment and strategy for combating chronic disease in children, with plans to finalize it by August 12.
WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE
This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.
By age 2, 40 percent of toddlers have their own tablet, a report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that seeks to protect kids online, says.
Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Danny Nguyen at dnguyen@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com.
Want to share a tip securely? Message us on Signal: Dannyn516.70, CarmenP.82, RuthReader.02 or ErinSchumaker.01.
PROBLEM SOLVERS
Congress' leading proponents of exploring the use of psychedelic drugs to treat mental illness think they've found an ally in VA Secretary Doug Collins.
Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and Lou Correa (D-Calif.), who co-chair the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies Caucus, seek a meeting in light of Collins' recent promotion of the drug therapy.
Since his confirmation in February, Collins has repeatedly brought up his desire to research whether psychedelics can help veterans. He has talked positively about psychedelics on a podcast appearance, on the social media platform X and at a recent Cabinet meeting when Trump pressed him on what he's doing to drive down the high suicide rate among veterans.
'We were encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans' care,' Bergman and Correa wrote.
Why it matters: The VA also embraced psychedelics research during the Biden administration, awarding $1.5 million in funding last December to study psychedelic therapy for veterans. It was the first time the VA put money into studying the drugs since the 1960s.
At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration last year rejected a drugmaker's plan to offer a psychedelic drug, MDMA, alongside therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder — a major blow to the company, Lykos Therapeutics, and the industry.
Bergman and Correa had lobbied the agency to approve the application.
What's next: Bergman and Correa hope VA research can demonstrate the drugs' efficacy in helping ex-servicemembers who have mental health problems as a result of their military service. That, they believe, could lead to FDA approval of the drugs for civilians with mental illness.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
18 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
UK leader Starmer waters down planned welfare cuts after revolt in his Labour Party
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave way to political pressure on Friday, watering down planned welfare reforms to avoid defeat by his own party's lawmakers. It's the latest forced U-turn for a center-left government caught between conflicting goals of cutting spending and improving public services. The government planned to bring a bill to Parliament next week that would tighten eligibility for a key disability benefit, removing the Personal Independence Payment from hundreds of thousands of people with long-term physical or mental health conditions. Another health-related benefit received by people on low incomes would also be reduced under the plans. The government said the proposed changes would help people find jobs while preserving a safety net for those who can never work. It would also save an estimated 5 billion pounds ($7 billion) a year from a welfare bill that has ballooned since the COVID-19 pandemic. But many Labour lawmakers balked at the changes, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank estimated would cut the income of 3.2 million people by 2030. More than 120 of the 403 Labour legislators signed a motion that would effectively kill the bill if it were to be passed. Defeat at the hands of his own party in the vote planned for Tuesday would have seriously damaged Starmer's authority. To avoid that, the government said it would ensure no one who currently receives the PIP benefit will lose it. Starmer was elected a year ago in a landslide victory, winning a commanding majority of seats in the House of Commons. Since then his popularity has plunged as a sluggish economy and stubbornly high inflation resist efforts to raise living standards and ease a cost-of-living squeeze. Even as Starmer enjoyed success on the world stage – charming U.S. President Donald Trump and securing a trade deal to exempt Britain from some U.S. tariffs – Labour lawmakers have grown restive at the party's sagging poll ratings and the rise of the hard-right Reform U.K. party led by Nigel Farage. Starmer has been forced into several U-turns. In May the government dropped a plan to end winter home heating subsidies for millions of retirees. Last week Starmer announced a national inquiry into organized child sexual abuse, something he was pressured to do by opposition politicians — and Elon Musk. The government insists that major changes to welfare are needed to deal with a 'broken' system inherited from the previous Conservative government. It says the spending cuts it is making will be balanced by new money and support to help people who are able to work find jobs. The government wants to reduce the number of working-age people who are economically inactive through long-term sickness, which it says stand at 2.8 million, the highest rate of any G7 nation. At a NATO summit on Wednesday, Starmer dismissed griping about the welfare plans as 'noises off.' But the next day, he insisted he was listening to party rebels. 'We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness,' he told lawmakers. 'That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.'
San Francisco Chronicle
18 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Iran's top diplomat says talks with US 'complicated' by American strike on nuclear sites
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's top diplomat said the possibility of new negotiations with the United States on his country's nuclear program has been 'complicated' by the American attack on three of the sites, which he conceded caused 'serious damage." The U.S. was one of the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to limits on its uranium enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief and other benefits. That deal unraveled after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out unilaterally during his first term. Trump has suggested he is interested in new talks with Iran, and said that the two sides would meet next week. In an interview on Iranian state television broadcast late Thursday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left open the possibility that his country would again enter talks on its nuclear program, but suggested it would not be anytime soon. 'No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations,' he said. 'No time has been set, no promise has been made, and we haven't even talked about restarting the talks.' The American decision to intervene militarily 'made it more complicated and more difficult' for talks on Iran's nuclear program, Araghchi said. Israel attacked Iran on June 13, targeting its nuclear sites, defense systems, high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists in relentless attacks. In 12 days of strikes, Israel said it killed some 30 Iranian commanders and hit eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. The U.S. stepped in on Sunday to hit Iran's three most important strikes with a wave of cruise missiles and bunker-buster bombs dropped by B-2 bombers, designed to penetrate deep into the ground to damage the heavily-fortified targets. Iran, in retaliation, fired missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday but caused no known casualties. Trump said the American attacks 'completely and fully obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, though Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday accused the U.S. president of exaggerating the damage, saying the strikes did not 'achieve anything significant.' There has been speculation that Iran moved much of its highly-enriched uranium before the strikes, something that it told the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that it planned to do. Even if that turns out to be true, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi told Radio France International that the damage done to the Fordo site, which was built into a mountain, 'is very, very, very considerable.' Among other things, he said, centrifuges are 'quite precise machines' and it's 'not possible' that the concussion from multiple 30,000-pound bombs would not have caused 'important physical damage.' 'These centrifuges are no longer operational,' he said. Araghchi himself acknowledged that 'the level of damage is high, and it's serious damage.'
Hamilton Spectator
22 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
UK leader Starmer waters down planned welfare cuts after revolt in his Labour Party
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave way to political pressure on Friday, watering down planned welfare reforms to avoid defeat by his own party's lawmakers. It's the latest forced U-turn for a center-left government caught between conflicting goals of cutting spending and improving public services. The government planned to bring a bill to Parliament next week that would tighten eligibility for a key disability benefit, removing the Personal Independence Payment from hundreds of thousands of people with long-term physical or mental health conditions. Another health-related benefit received by people on low incomes would also be reduced under the plans. The government said the proposed changes would help people find jobs while preserving a safety net for those who can never work. It would also save an estimated 5 billion pounds ($7 billion) a year from a welfare bill that has ballooned since the COVID-19 pandemic. But many Labour lawmakers balked at the changes, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank estimated would cut the income of 3.2 million people by 2030. More than 120 of the 403 Labour legislators signed a motion that would effectively kill the bill if it were to be passed. Defeat at the hands of his own party in the vote planned for Tuesday would have seriously damaged Starmer's authority. To avoid that, the government said it would ensure no one who currently receives the PIP benefit will lose it. Starmer was elected a year ago in a landslide victory, winning a commanding majority of seats in the House of Commons. Since then his popularity has plunged as a sluggish economy and stubbornly high inflation resist efforts to raise living standards and ease a cost-of-living squeeze. Even as Starmer enjoyed success on the world stage – charming U.S. President Donald Trump and securing a trade deal to exempt Britain from some U.S. tariffs – Labour lawmakers have grown restive at the party's sagging poll ratings and the rise of the hard-right Reform U.K. party led by Nigel Farage . Starmer has been forced into several U-turns. In May the government dropped a plan to end winter home heating subsidies for millions of retirees. Last week Starmer announced a national inquiry into organized child sexual abuse, something he was pressured to do by opposition politicians — and Elon Musk . The government insists that major changes to welfare are needed to deal with a 'broken' system inherited from the previous Conservative government. It says the spending cuts it is making will be balanced by new money and support to help people who are able to work find jobs. The government wants to reduce the number of working-age people who are economically inactive through long-term sickness, which it says stand at 2.8 million, the highest rate of any G7 nation. At a NATO summit on Wednesday, Starmer dismissed griping about the welfare plans as 'noises off.' But the next day, he insisted he was listening to party rebels. 'All colleagues want to get this right, and so do I,' Starmer said. 'We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness,' he told lawmakers. 'That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
