Selena Simmons-Duffin

Patient seeking care at NIH hospital detained by ICE NIH officials called immigration authorities after the patient presented a non-real ID while passing security at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

Federal immigration authorities detained a woman seeking medical care at the National Institutes of Health’s flagship research hospital after the patient presented a non-real ID while passing security.

CDC to disburse delayed funds for fighting fentanyl and more, staffers say Much of the public health agency's $9 billion budget had been in limbo but funds are finally flowing, according to CDC staffers, including for a key overdose prevention program.

NEW from me and @brianmannadk.bsky.social: The CDC will be able to fully fund the Overdose Data to Action or OD2A program ahead of a key budget deadline. CDC staff say this appears to be good news, although the funding situation is still fluid and confusing.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Time to Grow The 51st Help us hire Christina and Martin Full-Time!

Do you live in DC? Then you want @maustermuhle.bsky.social covering local government for you. Let’s make it happen @51st.news givebutter.com/SsQ8CG

GOP lawmakers tighten hold on elections administration in North Carolina A Republican-backed spending bill would allow the hiring of political appointees to state elections administrations staff.

A Republican-backed spending bill would allow the hiring of political appointees to state elections administrations staff.

www.wunc.org/politics/202...

Just read the Brown University agreement and this really jumped out.

"The University will not perform gender reassignment surgery or prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to any minor child for the purpose of aligning the child's appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex."

By a vote of 52-47, the #Senate invoked cloture on the nomination of Susan Monarez to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Party line vote with Senator Justice not voting.

Public media has been defunded. Your support keeps journalists on the ground, lifts unheard voices, and connects communities.

Help us plan for what’s next. Make a monthly gift today. Stand with public media: n.pr/458sOhq

Without federal funding, public media — and the truth-telling, community-connecting role it plays — is at risk.

Local stations may vanish. Millions could lose trusted news and vital information. If you are ready to join the fight for journalism, donate now: n.pr/458sOhq

Half a dozen gender care providers in blue states have announced in the last week or so they are shuttering their programs. I'm hoping to talk to families who uprooted their lives and moved to one of these states for care and now face losing it again. Happy to find ways to protect your identity!

ACA health insurance will cost the average person 75% more next year, research shows A new analysis shows that health insurance premiums for Obamacare are set to soar next year, as financial help that subsidized the cost expires. Congress is not likely to extend the subsidies.

“ACA health insurance will cost the average person 75% more next year, research shows”

“The average person who buys Affordable Care Act insurance will be paying 75% more for their premium, according to the analysis from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.”

As a longtime public health reporter covering the rise of anti-vaccine groups, I have seen them use personal stories to raise doubts about vaccines.
Today I saw immunization advocates push back by highlighting the stories of the toll of vaccine-preventable illness. A thread:

'Where's our money?' CDC grant funding is moving so slowly layoffs are happening The state and local health departments that rely on CDC funding say the money is not coming in on time and no one can tell them why. Some are laying off staff.

NPR - Health departments around the country have noticed there's something strange happening with funding from the CDC: It's not showing up on schedule and there's been no communication about why.

'Where's our money?' CDC grant funding is moving so slowly layoffs are happening The state and local health departments that rely on CDC funding say the money is not coming in on time and no one can tell them why. Some are laying off staff.

CDC sources say its funding is coming at 'eyedropper' pace, hurting states and cities : Shots - Health News

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

'Where's our money?' CDC grant funding is moving so slowly layoffs are happening The state and local health departments that rely on CDC funding say the money is not coming in on time and no one can tell them why. Some are laying off staff.

SCOOP from me: CDC staffers tell me the agency’s full Congressionally-approved budget is months late. They’re running out of time to be able to send out the grants that state and local health departments rely on. They say this amounts to impoundment of CDC’s funding.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.

RFK Jr. says Americans were healthier when his uncle was president. Is he right? American life expectancy in 1960 was almost ten years shorter than it is today. And the leading causes of death were chronic diseases. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. frequently tells a different story.

Whoops! Damn data again. We really gotta stop tracking this stuff so people can lie more freely.

"American life expectancy in 1960 was almost ten years shorter than it is today: 69.7 years. And the leading causes of death were, in fact, chronic diseases."

www.npr.org/2025/06/06/n...

RFK Jr. says Americans were healthier when his uncle was president. Is he right? American life expectancy in 1960 was almost ten years shorter than it is today. And the leading causes of death were chronic diseases. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. frequently tells a different story.

My latest story has everything: Tang, push-ups, and funhouse mirrors: www.npr.org/2025/06/06/n...

PRIDE NEWS: The fencing placed around Dupont Circle yesterday by the National Park Service is coming down this morning, a few hours before the WorldPride Parade is scheduled to start. Its placement, for public safety reasons, drew widespread criticisms from many locals.

The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.

The MAHA report released by the White House is rife with citation errors — including seven sources that don’t seem to exist at all.

Great reporting by @emilykennard.bsky.social & @margaretmanto.bsky.social www.notus.org/health-scien...

'Which is it?' RFK Jr. waffles on cuts to lead poisoning prevention efforts Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced tough questions from senators about a lead poisoning crisis in public schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

My latest: "We have a team in Milwaukee," Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators yesterday. The city is facing a lead crisis in publics schools.

But the Milwaukee Health Commissioner tells me there is no CDC team there.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

White House officials wanted to put federal workers ‘in trauma.’ It’s working. Federal workers describe struggling with panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts. “Why doesn’t anyone care?”

This is just an incredible feat of reporting on the emotional pain Trump and Musk have visited upon federal workers www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

How DOGE has tried to embed beyond the executive branch NPR has identified nearly 40 small, independent entities – both inside and outside the federal government's control – that a team of young DOGE staffers has tried to access in recent weeks.

How DOGE is attempting to expand its reach beyond high-profile Cabinet agencies, and in some cases beyond the executive branch and the federal government entirely. a deep dive into their tactics and what staffers are leading the charge, w @stphnfwlr.com

www.npr.org/2025/05/17/n...

Protesters break out saying "RFK kills people with AIDS." Capitol Police escort protesters out.

USDA, DOGE demand states hand over personal data about food stamp recipients The Department of Agriculture is demanding sensitive data from states about more than 40 million food stamp recipients, as DOGE is amassing data for immigration enforcement.

@npr.org EXCLUSIVE:

The Department of Agriculture is demanding states hand over personal data of food assistance recipients — including Social Security numbers, addresses and, in at least one state, citizenship status, according to emails shared with NPR.

Barnard suspends WKCR and Spectator reporters who covered Butler Library protest Barnard and Columbia issued interim suspensions Thursday afternoon to four student journalists who covered a Wednesday pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library, citing “information received” from Pub...

Several Columbia Univ student journalists are suspended after covering protests (while wearing press ID) in the main library.

Their access to campus is blocked, and they can't take final exams.

Also: Columbia's acting president is a former ABC journalist

www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/05...

From Alaska Capitol’s cafeteria, author and illustrator claims Pulitzer Prize | Alaska Beacon Tessa Hull's 'Feeding Ghosts' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for memoirs and biographies, placing her among America's top authors.

I am utterly charmed.

From Alaska Capitol’s cafeteria, author and illustrator claims Pulitzer Prize alaskabeacon.com/2025/05/05/f...

CORDER LIST: 605 U.S.) TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2025 24A1030 ORDER IN PENDING CASE UNITED STATES, ET AL. V. SHILLING, COMMANDER, ET AL. The application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is granted. The March 27, 2025 preliminary injunction entered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, case No. 2:25-cv- 241, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court. Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and Justice Jackson would deny the application.

BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump's anti-transgender military ban to go into effect while litigation proceeds.

The stay of the district court's injunction was issued with no reasoning and over the objections of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson.

More to come: www.lawdork.com