NIH director offers reason for cutting vaccine contracts
His reasoning differs from the explanation HHS Secretary Kennedy gave for canceling $500 million worth of mRNA contracts last week. Kennedy justified the move by claiming the technology does not meet 'current scientific standards.'
Bhattacharya called mRNA a promising technology that could lead to better treatments for diseases like cancer. But he expressed concern over just how much antigen mRNA vaccines produce and leave in the body, even though other types of vaccines share the same issue and are considered safe and effective.
Bhattacharya blamed public distrust in mRNA on vaccine mandates and other public health safety measures issued under the Biden administration, arguing that his administration did not properly address concerns about the vaccine's safety and efficacy.
'As a vaccine intended for broad public use, especially during a public health emergency, the platform has failed a crucial test: earning public trust,' he wrote.
'No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission.'
outspoken critic of lockdown measures and vaccine mandates.
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NBC News
28 minutes ago
- NBC News
Tariffs and deportations are contributing to rising prices and fewer immigrant workers
After projections that President Donald Trump's mass deportations would negatively impact the American economy, the nation is seeing a jump in wholesale vegetable prices and slowdowns in industries that rely on immigrant workers. Economic measures that are trickling out are leading some to point to the administration's immigration crackdown, along with tariffs, as at least partly responsible for the slump in some economic sectors and for rising prices. The latest comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported Thursday a whopping 38.9% increase in wholesale dry and fresh vegetable prices from June to July, the biggest since March 2022. Phil Kafarakis, president of IMFA The Food Away From Home Association, which represents food producers, suppliers, services and industries outside of grocery stores, said the warning signs should be taken seriously. Because of deportation efforts, 'you are now going to be left with not enough laborers in the fields to pick up and collect product as its coming to harvest,' he said, adding that it is contributing to the current 'horribly, incredibly impactful' effect of tariffs. Combined with drought, excessive flooding and wildfires, the deportations are coming to bear and will become a bigger problem in the late summer and early fall harvests, he said. 'I don't think people realize' there will be a surge in vegetable costs in restaurants, at grocery stores and other places, Kafarakis said. While the administration has not yet hit the deportation levels Trump promised in his campaign, the number of people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June was its highest monthly arrests in at least five years. This week, the Dallas Federal Reserve issued a report stating Texas' economy has softened amid uncertainty. Business owners told the Dallas Federal Reserve that uncertainty about tariffs and immigration policy were posing investment and hiring challenges. 'Immigration enforcement actions are also affecting the ability of some firms to recruit and retain workers,' the agency stated in its report. The federal bank surveys Texas businesses regularly. In its July survey, the inability to hire qualified workers because they lacked permits or legal status 'was the most widespread impact noted among firms experiencing workforce disruption," the reserve bank said. The report quoted a machine manufacturer who said in response to survey questions, 'Foreign-born laborers get the job done. We need them, we use them, and we like them.' Immigrant workers are a big part of Texas' workforce. In an April report, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank said the share of Texas firms reporting on its survey that they rely on workers who moved to Texas from a different country increased from 15% in 2023 to 25% in 2024. "The increase has been across all sectors, with about one-third of manufacturing respondents relying on immigrant workers," the bank stated then. In a report released Thursday by the immigrant advocacy group America's Voice, the authors noted that the cycling of immigrant workers in and out of the country has stopped, mostly because of border restrictions reducing the inflow of immigrants. 'The country is losing workers without them being replaced, with adverse economic consequences,' the report by Robert Lynch, Michael Ettlinger and Emma Sifre states. Lynch is an economics professor at Washington College. Ettlinger is a founding director of University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy, and Sifre is a data analyst with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Lynch said that the number of workers in agriculture and related industries increased from March to July in 2023 and in 2024. But employment in the industries those same months this year dropped by 155,000 workers, down 6.5%. In construction, the 10 states with the highest concentrations of unauthorized workers saw employment drop .1% from June 2024 to June 2025, while other states saw it increase 1.9%, according to the report. Additionally, the growth in the states not in the top 10 was lower than a year ago, down from 2.3% growth. About 7% of the leisure and hospitality workers are undocumented and are mostly focused in restaurant and hotel sectors, Lynch said. States with higher concentrations of unauthorized workers are experiencing slower growth in this area, he said. Food service employment grew .2% in high immigrant states over the past year compared to 1.5% in other states, the report states. 'A loss of a significant portion of this workforce is likely to be particularly damaging as there were nearly 1 million unfilled jobs in leisure and hospitality in as recently as April of this year,' Lynch said. The numbers of foreign-born workers in the country fell from 33.3 million in January to about 32.1 million in July, a loss of about 1.2 million workers, according to analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers by the National Foundation for American Policy, a trade and immigration research group. Stuart Anderson, the foundation's executive director, said thus far there has not been a corresponding increase in U.S. workers' labor participation. 'The reason why you see slowdowns is because when employers can't find enough workers, they are going to invest less,' he said. Antonio De Loera-Burst, United Farm Workers spokesman, questioned whether there are truly labor shortages in agriculture. He said workers are frightened and acknowledged raids have occurred in some fields and agricultural related worksites. But 'a lot of workers I talk to are desperate for work. There's not enough work,' De Loera-Burst said. Hours are being cut and workers are being told to do in six hours what they used to do in eight, he said. 'We are dead set against deportations,' he said, referring to UFW. He said that what appears to be happening is that growers are using the disruptions of immigration raids on their businesses 'as their latest argument for why Congress should give them their long-standing priority, which is to bring more guest workers and pay them less.' Trump has been under pressure from businesses that rely on immigrant workers, particularly the agricultural industry, to ensure they have a secure and reliable workforce.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Americans are shifting away from wanting kids. I'm worried for my generation.
Today's culture often celebrates personal freedom and career milestones. What about raising a family? It's the question we all eventually get asked in our lives, several times. 'What do you see yourself eventually doing?' As a young person still figuring some things out, you can imagine how often I get that one, whether it's from my fellow classmates, my professors or my friends' parents. My first instinct is to talk about the family I hope to raise, but I know the question is likely about my professional ambitions instead. It's understandable – a career can certainly provide one with a sense of duty and purpose. Indeed, 71% of American adults state that having an enjoyable job is extremely important for living a fulfilling life. But only 26% say the same about having children. Do Americans need to have more kids? This red state shows how to help families. | Opinion We are seeing a culture shift away from family The lack of priority given to one's future family is deeply worrying nowadays. It reflects a larger cultural shift: Fewer Americans are getting married and having children. Why is this the case, especially when almost half of Americans agree that fewer people choosing to have kids would negatively impact the country? Some cite affordability, environmental concerns and bad memories of their own childhood. Most Americans ages 18-49 who doubt they'll reproduce, however, say they simply don't want to. People increasingly view becoming a parent as burdensome, and while it is true that raising a kid demands hard work and sacrifice, America's aversion to starting a family has its consequences. I love being a mom. Why do many progressives tear down motherhood? | Opinion Recently released data shows that the fertility rate in the United States has dropped to a record low of less than 1.6 births per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. This means we are trending toward a future with more retirees and fewer working-age adults, which threatens long-term economic growth, increases pressure on social services and erodes support networks for the elderly. We can look at South Korea as a warning, which had a fertility rate of 0.75 in 2024, and that wasn't even the lowest on record. Over the next 60 years, that nation's population is projected to halve, and by this point, people ages 65 and older will make up approximately 58% of the population. Health care and pension costs are expected to soar, and a rise in lonely, isolated deaths is a concern. I'm concerned about what young people want Just a few months ago, during Harvard University's finals season, I overheard a conversation between two other students at the library. One of them was saying he was excited for his post-grad life because he'd be making money on Wall Street, drinking and getting high with his friends, and entering a string of noncommitted relationships. For him, that was the reason he was attending college for four years. That mindset, although disappointing to hear now, will do more than disappoint us later. It points to a grim, childless future. Today's culture often celebrates personal freedom and career milestones, while less glamorous moments that give life incredible meaning are pushed to the side. Of course, this isn't to say that everyone should have or want kids – there are other goals worth pursuing. But for countless young people, parenthood remains an overlooked path. It isn't a detour from your career; it can be one of the most rewarding vocations. But there remains hope. In the United States, parenthood is associated with happiness and fulfillment. The Institute for Family Studies finds that 37% of married parents between 18 and 50 years old describe themselves as very happy, compared with 26% of married nonparents. Among unmarried adults, 16% of parents report being very happy, compared with 14% of nonparents. Additionally, while many acknowledge the stress and fatigue that come with raising children, 80% of parents say it is enjoyable all or most of the time, and 82% of parents believe it is rewarding. Yes, parenting is difficult. But young people these days rarely hear about the joys of raising children. Instead, the ideal life is often portrayed as one with total freedom and zero responsibility – one that is inevitably childless. Elizabeth Choi is an intern for USA TODAY Opinion and a student at Harvard University.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
D.C. police chief retains position, but perhaps not as much power
D.C. officials who cast President Donald Trump's takeover of the city's police force as an opportunity at the start of the week had declared it an emergency by Friday, suing the administration over its attempt to install an 'emergency police commissioner' with the full powers of police chief and to eliminate policies limiting local police's collaboration with immigration enforcement. The legal battle revolves around a question with a still murky answer as of Friday night: Who is ultimately in charge of law enforcement priorities in the nation's capital? D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith downplayed the takeover in her first communication to officers Monday, writing in an email reviewed by The Washington Post that 'Our relationship working with federal partners is nothing new to MPD.' But Friday, in a sworn declaration in U.S. District Court, she said that Attorney General Pam Bondi's order granting DEA head Terry Cole the full powers of the D.C. chief would 'upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike.' In the court filing, Smith said that the proposed new command structure would 'wreak operational havoc' on the department. 'The confusion and delays caused by this upending of the command structure will endanger public safety, placing the lives of MPD officers and District residents at grave risk,' she said in the filing. 'There is no greater risk to public safety in paramilitary organization than to not know who is in command.' Yet the city seemed unable to answer that question Friday morning. Asked who is actively issuing orders to officers in the wake of the Bondi order, a D.C. police spokesperson directed questions to the mayor's office. The mayor's office directed questions back to D.C. police. Even U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes did not definitively answer the question in the hearing Friday, as she did not issue a ruling, but rather forged a compromise that kept police under local command. The administration backed off its claim that Cole would act with the powers of police chief, a move that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) celebrated in a statement Friday night. 'I am pleased to be able to report that, after a day in court and in accordance with Home Rule, Pamela Smith remains our Chief of Police, in command and control of the 3,100 men and women at the Metropolitan Police Department,' Bowser said in the statement. However, under the rewritten order from Bondi, Cole would 'direct' the mayor to provide D.C. police for federal priorities. Bondi signaled that Cole would call on officers to assist in immigration enforcement, a violation of current D.C. police policies, and in clearing homeless encampments. As the legal battle played out in court, Cole addressed D.C. police officers for the first time since Bondi moved to appoint him as 'emergency police commissioner.' According to an X post from the D.C. Police Union, Cole attended the 1st Police District Friday evening roll call and told officers that the 'chain of command is still in place and to follow their lawful orders.' Even as questions mount about who holds more power, D.C. resident have seen the law enforcement presence around the city spike over the course of the week, with more than 1,750 officers and agents participating in the federal crackdown overnight Thursday, according to a White House official. Federal agents sporting FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations vests swarmed three tents at Washington Circle on Thursday night, but drove away without evicting anyone. By Friday, videos posted to social media show D.C. police had returned and cleared the tents, despite some people receiving city health department notices allowing them to remain for several more days. Nearly 30 cars were stopped as part of an operation D.C. police characterized as a standard 'traffic safety compliance checkpoint' at a busy intersection in Northwest Washington on Wednesday night, but dozens of onlookers gathered when they noticed ICE officers appeared to be questioning the drivers who had originally been stopped for minor infractions like seat belt violations or broken taillights. And a weekly comedy show in Columbia Heights turned into an impromptu protest when witnesses say roughly 30 law enforcement officers, including U.S. Border Patrol, gathered to arrest a 25-year-old man riding an illegal dirt bike. In an X post Friday, Bondi touted 189 arrests in D.C. since Trump tapped federal law enforcement to police the nation's capital this week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers accounted for 75 of those arrests, according to the post. Bondi's order Thursday sought to abolish policies limiting D.C. police's cooperation with ICE, signaling the Trump administration's desire to use its takeover of D.C. police to crack down on immigration. Over Wednesday and Thursday nights, more than half of the arrests reported by the White House were for immigration enforcement, though it is unclear if they were made with direct involvement from D.C. police. Though federal forces have been visible across the city all week, from National Guard troops in Humvees near the base of the Washington Monument on Wednesday to more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles parked outside a Southeast public housing complex Thursday, no federal officers were spotted at the scene of the District's 100th homicide this year — the first homicide after Trump said that he was federalizing D.C. police. Tymark Wells, of Northwest Washington, was fatally shot around 7 p.m. Monday within a half-mile of two of the high-profile homicides Trump cited in his news conference as examples of crime that federal law enforcement could help prevent. D.C. officers at the scene Monday evening said no federal agencies had participated in the response to the shooting. The power struggle will continue to play out in court next week, when Reyes is expected to rule on whether Trump can direct D.C. police officers to enforce immigration laws. In the meantime, both D.C. police and federal agencies will continue to patrol the District as leadership grapples to establish authority.
