Robert F Kennedy Jr. Confirmed for HHS Secretary: On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary of HHS by a 52-48 vote. Sen. McConnell (R-KY) was the only Republican to join Democrats voting against confirmation. Kennedy Junior has vowed to use HHS resources to prioritize high rates of chronic disease in the United States, which several Democrats on the Senate Finance and HELP Committees commended. However, Democratic senators remain concerned about his previous stances on vaccine side effects and fear he may offer little pushback against potential GOP plans to lower spending on Medicaid and Medicare.

House and Senate Committees Pass Separate Budget Plans: House Republicans launched their budget plan out of committee Thursday night — the first step towards fulfilling President Donald Trump’s policy agenda but at odds with the Senate's continued pursuit of a two-bill plan. The massive House bill calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and extensions. House Republicans’ will face tough policy decisions that could get extremely fraught, such as competing tax priorities and huge Medicaid cuts. The Budget Committee blueprint calls for $880 billion in savings from the Energy and Commerce Committee, which could open up changes to CMS rules. Additionally, the Senate’s toplines, focused largely on border and defense security, are far from that passed by the House bill. Those fights will play out as House Republicans craft their actual reconciliation bill.

House Ways & Means Holds Hearing on Healthcare Modernization: On Tuesday, the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on U.S. healthcare reform, featuring Republican leadership asking panelists how best to address the “MAHA” agenda President Trump has called for. Panelists pointed to certain restrictions on HSA accounts that make utilization more difficult, while Democrats pushed back against any cuts to Medicare or Medicaid spending.  

President Trump Orders MAHA Commision: On Thursday, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Make America Healthy Again Commission, chaired by new HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Commission’s fact sheet says the government initiative will be “focused on investigating the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.”

Judge Orders Restoration of Federal Health Data: On Tuesday, Federal Judge John Bates ordered health agencies to restore webpages containing public health information that were deleted without notice in the first days of the Trump administration. The progressive physicians’ group Doctors for America filed a suit in the district court for D.C. last week challenging the deletion of thousands of webpages to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.  

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