Josh Michaud

The USAID List of Terminated Global Health Awards – What Does it Tell Us? | KFF This policy watch examines the USAID list of terminated awards, recently sent Congress, to examine the implications for global health programs and outstanding questions.

NEW: "The USAID List of Terminated Global Health Awards – What Does it Tell Us?"

www.kff.org/policy-watch...

FF graphic featuring a quote from Lindsey Dawson, KFF Associate Director for HIV Policy. It says, “Eliminating [HIV prevention] funding could jeopardize recent successes in addressing the nation’s HIV epidemic, including those related to the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, which the first Trump administration created... Diminished prevention efforts would likely lead to an increase in HIV incidence, with negative implications for individual well-being, public health, and health costs.”

⚡KFF’s @lindseydawson.bsky.social writes about the implications of a potential funding cut to the CDC’s HIV prevention budget. #QuickTake on.kff.org/4izGLZR

March 10 ruling granting preliminary injunction for Trump Administration to pay frozen funds March 18 ruling ordering Trump Administration to halt actions related to USAID dissolution

In two rulings in the last 8 days, judges have ruled against Trump Administration actions freezing USAID funding and shutting down the agency. These will continue to be fought in court.

From our @kff.org timeline of events on USAID:
www.kff.org/u-s-foreign-...

RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread The health secretary has suggested allowing the virus to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Such an experiment would be disastrous, scientists say.

The Great Birdington Declaration

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h...

White House to Withdraw Weldon as CDC Nominee A Republican familiar with the nomination said Dr. Dave Weldon didn’t have the votes in the Senate to be confirmed.

Dr. Dave Weldon "didn't have the votes" to be confirmed as CDC Director, according to a source. His confirmation hearing this morning was cancelled.

Interesting to note that the CDC Director position only became Senate confirmed as of this year.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

U.S. Foreign Aid Freeze & Dissolution of USAID: Timeline of Events | KFF This timeline provides a detailed overview of actions, including counter-actions, related to the administration’s efforts to freeze all U.S. foreign aid and dissolve the U.S. Agency for International…

Excellent timeline of events from @kff.org chronicling Trump/Musk actions to freeze all U.S. foreign aid and dissolve #USAID

Utah Governor Cox signs a fluoride ban into law. A remarkable new development in the saga of fluoride in the U.S., as Utah is the first state ever to impose such a ban.
www.wsj.com/us-news/utah...

U.S. Measles Outbreaks: A New Abnormal in a Time of Vaccine Hesitancy Given the current trends and embrace of vaccine skepticism on the part of the administration, and potential changes to federal policy around childhood vaccines, we might continue to witness more and l...

There is no secret about why measles is cropping up more frequently - a decline in vaccination rates.
www.kff.org/quick-take/u...

Second death reported in growing measles outbreak The death of a New Mexico adult comes eight days after a 6-year-old child succumbed to the disease in Texas last week.

Reports of a second measles death now in the growing measles outbreak. Apparently Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was prescient when he initially mentioned two measles deaths last week. Another unvaccinated individual.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Utah could become the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water The Republican-controlled statehouse sent the bill to the desk of Gov. Spencer Cox (R) last week after it passed both chambers largely along party lines.

Utah is on the verge of being the first state to ban use of fluoride in drinking water. It's up to the governor to veto (or not) the legislation approved by Republican lawmakers
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

First measles death is reported in the West Texas outbreak that's infected more than 120 people A person who was hospitalized has died from measles in West Texas. It's the first since the outbreak began late last month.

Report of the first death due to the TX measles outbreak.

124 cases of measles have been reported in the outbreak so far, almost all among unvaccinated children
apnews.com/article/meas...

She says $500 million will go to increased biosecurity measures at farms, and an additional $400 million will be made available for "financial relief" for farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu.

Trump Administration Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says USDA will invest "up to $1 billion" to address the avian flu crisis and bring down the price of eggs. Part of that investment, she writes in an op-ed, will come from DOGE savings.
www.wsj.com/opinion/agri...

It appears there is little to no resistance from Senate Republicans to the nomination of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

On the Front Lines Against Bird Flu, Egg Farmers Say They're Losing the Battle - KFF Health News Tools used to contain previous bird flu outbreaks aren’t working this time, experts say. The virus has sickened at least 67 people in the U.S. and killed one, with egg producers begging for a new appr...

Excellent article which (ahem) lays out biosecurity issues facing U.S. egg production in a time of uncontrolled H5N1 spread in poultry, and the growing risk for human health
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Rubio claims that @USAID lifesaving assistance for health and humanitarian needs will continue. But his team just communicated that the entire agency will be imminently reduced from 14,000 to 294 people. Just 12 in Africa.

To my knowledge, USAID's President's #Malaria Initiative (PMI) is still subject to the #foreignaidfreeze. This means no bed nets, indoor residual spraying, seasonal preventive treatments, or medicines getting to people - mostly kids and pregnant women.

DOGE broadens sweep of federal agencies, gains access to health payment systems Associates of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have fanned out across the federal government in recent days, alarming some career employees.

Musk and his team are collecting lists of CDC employees with less than a year of service or in two-year probationary periods.

The concerted effort to hollow out the federal workforce continues, now coming for public health.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The stop work order on foreign assistance and media blackout from CDC is already hampering the response to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda
www.cbsnews.com/news/some-u-...

Overview of President Trump’s Executive Actions on Global Health | KFF This guide provides an overview of executive orders and other executive actions made by the Trump Administration since January 21, 2025 that directly address or affect U.S. global health efforts. This...

We’re keeping an updated resource describing all global health related Executive Actions from the Trump Administration here:
www.kff.org/global-healt...

Given that US provides ~20% of its global health support through international (multilateral) organizations & is party to numerous int'l agreements/treaties, this review could have important implications for US global health assistance
www.kff.org/interactive/...
www.kff.org/global-healt...

Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.

A new Executive Order withdraws the US from the UN Human Rights Council also requires the State Department to review ALL international organizations and ALL conventions and treaties the US is party to, and determine which are “contrary to the interests of the US”
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Argentina says it will pull out of World Health Organization | CNN Argentina has announced it will pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO), mirroring a similar move by US President Donald Trump last month.

Now Argentina, following in the Trump Administration's footsteps, says it will withdraw from the World Health Organization
www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/a...

One-third of all US global health assistance, just over $4 billion per year, has been directed through USAID in recent years.

Shuttering its maternal, child health, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and other programs will have predictable, terrible, results for those served.
www.kff.org/interactive/...

Rubio foreign aid freeze leads to USAID staff suspensions and contractor terminations Approximately 60 senior staff within USAID have been suspended, leaving the agency without clear leadership, five sources familiar with the internal action told CBS News.

About 50% of USAID global health staff - "roughly 450 technical experts" whose responsibilities cover areas such as HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases, have now been fired
www.cbsnews.com/news/rubio-f...

KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: January 2025 | KFF As Senate hearings begin for President Trump’s health nominees, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust shows a decline in public trust for govern...

Our latest KFF tracking poll on health information and trust highlights some trends about who the public trusts on health issues and how partisanship and trust play out in public health.
www.kff.org/health-infor...

State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid The “stop-work orders” appear to apply to US aid for all countries except Israel and Egypt.

The "pause" in foreign assistance put in place by the recent Trump Executive Order is more sweeping than it first appeared, with "stop-work" orders being put in place for existing spending in addition to stopping new spending.
www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

REEVALUATING AND REALIGNING UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID – The White House By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.

Trump just issued an EO on "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid" that, among other things, calls for a 90-day pause in foreign assistance to assess alignment w/US policy and a review of each foreign assistance program.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLDHEALTH ORGANIZATION – The White House WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the

Well, there it is. The Trump White House announces the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the Pandemic Treaty negotiations. Funding to cease immediately and US personnel recalled from WHO
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

This includes an Executive Order on COVID-19 and global health security (EO 13987), which among other things established the NSC Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense, and a Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense position
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...