Over 5,000 HHS Employees Furloughed Over Weekend: Over last weekend, over 5,000 probationary employees of government health agencies were dismissed by the White House and screened at the door on Monday. Employees received notices stating their “ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs.” Cuts across HHS include about 1,700 probationary workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and likely over 1,000 at NIH.

Trump Admin. Defends IRA Price Negotiation in Court: On Wednesday, the Trump Administration filed a brief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals defending Medicare’s drug price negotiation program against a suit from the drug industry. The legal defense, with similar language to the many briefs filed by the Biden administration on behalf of CMS, may show the new White House may be more willing to defend the Biden-era law than pharmaceutical companies were expecting.  

Trump’s Independent Agency Executive Order Could Impact FTC Rulemaking: On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order requiring independent agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, to submit draft regulations, priorities and strategic plans to the White House. The Executive Order will give the White House greater authority over how FTC handles FDA Orange Book and PBM policies the commission deemed to be anticompetitive under the Biden administration.

Senate Group Introduces Bipartisan Rural Hospital Payment Extension: This week, Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Rural Hospital Support Act, which would permanently extend additional CMS funding for Medicare-Dependent and Low-Volume Hospitals. The additional rural hospital funding is set to expire March 31, and the permanent extension bill has 12 bipartisan cosponsors.  

HHS Begins Eliminating Language on Trans and Nonbinary in Health Programs: On Wednesday, new HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told federal agencies, partners and the public that there are only “two sexes, male and female” — saying that all HHS policies will reflect this language. Kennedy’s statements reflect implementation of an executive order President Donald Trump signed to eliminate language on transgender and nonbinary people in federal agency guidance.

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