Latest news with #HouseEnergyandCommerceCommittee
Japan Today
01-07-2025
- Health
- Japan Today
HHS layoffs were likely unlawful and must be halted, U.S. judge says
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) A federal judge ruled that recent mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were likely unlawful and ordered the Trump administration to halt plans to downsize and reorganize the nation's health workforce. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted the preliminary injunction sought by a coalition of attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in early May. DuBose said the states had shown 'irreparable harm,' from the cuts and were likely to prevail in their claims that 'HHS's action was both arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to law.' 'The executive branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress,' DuBose wrote in a 58-page order handed down in U.S. district court in Providence. Her order blocks the Trump administration from finalizing layoffs announced in March or issuing further firings. HHS is directed to file a status report by July 11. An HHS spokesperson said the administration is reviewing the decision and considering next steps. "We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change," Andrew Nixon said in an emailed statement. The ruling applies to employees in four different parts of HHS: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Center for Tobacco Products within the Food and Drug Administration; the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families and employees of regional offices who work on Head Start matters; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated more than 10,000 employees in late March and consolidated 28 agencies to 15. Since then, agencies including the CDC have rescinded layoffs affecting hundreds of employees, including those monitoring HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. The attorneys general argued that the massive restructuring was arbitrary and outside of the scope of the agency's authority. The lawsuit also says the action decimated essential programs and pushed burdensome costs onto states. DuBose wrote that states have lost access to 'funds, guidance, research, screenings, compliance oversight, data, and, importantly, the expertise and guidance on which they have long relied.' The cuts are part of a federal 'Make America Healthy Again' directive to streamline costly agencies and reduce redundancies. Kennedy told senators at a May 14 hearing that there is 'so much chaos and disorganization" at HHS. But the restructuring had eliminated key teams that regulate food safety and drugs, as well as support a wide range of programs for tobacco, HIV prevention and maternal and infant health. Kennedy has since said that because of mistakes, 20% of people fired might be reinstated. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Int'l Business Times
24-06-2025
- Health
- Int'l Business Times
RFK Jr Admits He 'Did Not Fact Check' MAHA Report Before Non-Existent Sources Were Found in the Paper
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that he neglected to fact check his "Make America Healthy Again" report after it was revealed that several of the over 500 sources cited by the report did not exist. Seven of the studies cited by the MAHA report were never published or could not be found, according to NOTUS investigation from May. The secretary appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing on Tuesday, during which he got into a heated exchange with Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz. "You're listed as the chair of the commission. Did you read the report and fact-check its sources prior to publication?" Ruiz asked. "I did not fact check," RFK Jr. responded. "Why then did the report include citations to sources that don't even exist? How does that happen under your leadership, sir?" Ruiz continued. "All of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate," said RFK Jr. "They did not exist. How can they be accurate if they did not exist? In fact, my understanding is that even once the report was updated, more authors and researchers came forward stating that their research was misconstrued. This is quite unbelievable sir," Ruiz stated. "My concern here is that you and this administration are undertaking vast changes to our federal public health system and using purported facts and gold standard evidence that you claim to have as justifications for your decisions, actions and frankly your dissipation of our nation's public health infrastructure. But what you're relying upon isn't real. It isn't data driven and it isn't based in facts or reality. It's wrong," Ruiz continued. Social media users also proceeded to ridicule RFK Jr. for his responses to Ruiz' hard-hitting questions. "The Vaccine Whisperer just said he didn't fact-check—then claimed sources that DON'T EXIST are somehow accurate?? This is what happens when a Facebook comments section is HHS. He's not a truth-teller—he's a conspiracy karaoke machine with a Wi-Fi signal. Unfit. Embarrassing," one user wrote. "The scary part about this guy is - unlike Hegseth - nobody is babysitting him, which means he can do some serious damage. I'd be more comfortable with a witchdoctor as Sec of HHS," another added. "Look, we all know RFK Jr's brain worm fact checks everything, and that brain worm has a degree in 'doing it's own research' from Trump University," one user joked. "If a student turned that fraudulent document into my alma mater, they may have been referred to the university for expulsion, at the VERY least removal from the college of engineering," another user chimed in. Originally published on Latin Times
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Reconciliation Bill Locks in Trump's Energy Dominance Agenda
Americans voted for lower energy costs. President Donald Trump's administration followed through on the promise in record time with gas prices reaching their lowest levels in years. Now Congressional Republicans are codifying his energy policy agenda as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. The administration is expanding drilling on federal lands, expediting approvals for natural gas exports, and streamlining bureaucratic red tape that too often strangles energy exploration and extraction. Taken together, these actions will begin unleashing the private sector to bring about American energy dominance. Already, oil prices have reached a four-year low, and prices at the pump are down about 50 cents per gallon over the past year. That's major progress, but there is only so much an administration can do solo. Thankfully, congressional Republicans have passed plan to give President Trump an expanded arsenal of tools to achieve his energy policy agenda. Their energy plan is a core part of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that will also extend the expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from Trump's first term. The entire package will deliver pro-growth tax relief, save trillions of taxpayer dollars, and avoid a massive $4.5 trillion tax increase in 2026. While there are a lot of taxpayer-friendly provisions in the reconciliation package, part of the bill's mission is to fix America's broken energy policy. It repeals billions of dollars in wasteful Green New Deal-style funding and drives certainty for energy companies to invest over the long-term. The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee should each be commended for crafting some of the most important provisions of this tax and budget savings package. The core focus of the Natural Resources Committee's plan is to promote energy production. It does so by finally establishing a predictable schedule for the consideration of public lands and waters that can be tapped for resource extraction. The private sector will have long-term certainty thanks to quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales, and biannual offshore lease sales. President Biden infamously halted these sales and issued the fewest leases since the 1960s. Opening a competitive and responsible bid process for federal acreage will ensure a steady pipeline of future energy projects. Their proposal also focuses on bringing down production costs by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act's misguided fee increase on oil and gas produced on federal lands. It delivers a 25% cut to that fee, making production less expensive and more attractive for drillers to extract fossil fuels—likely yielding downstream consumer benefits. Higher taxes and fees ultimately disincentivize activities, and the inverse is also true. The Energy and Commerce Committee's portion of the bill will expedite the construction of energy infrastructure by cutting government red tape and allowing the private sector to bring energy from the ground to market more quickly. It accelerates permitting with a one-year timeline for carbon dioxide, oil, and hydrogen pipeline projects and for liquefied natural gas export facilities. It would also exempt most of these projects from frivolous, activist litigation to avoid 'delay-to-die' schemes. And while the Biden Administration emptied the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for political purposes, the Republican bill begins the process of responsibly refilling it. The Reserve currently sits at historically low levels, a scary reality in today's uncertain world. Its purpose is to safeguard against real emergencies, like natural disasters or major supply disruptions, not political worries. It's refreshing to see Congress engage on sensible energy policy after the boondoggles of the Biden years. Urgency on this issue is crucial since energy is a building block of our modern society and is woven into every facet of our lives. We need oil and natural gas to help grow crops, transport goods, power our factories, energize our homes, and much more. Without it, our entire way of life would be threatened. More energy, lower costs, and a reliable electricity supply: that's the vision Republicans and President Trump are hoping to accomplish with their reconciliation bill. The right course of action, and the necessary one, is for policymakers to keep these provisions in the final proposal that reaches the Oval Office. Praise be to Republicans for advancing a strong America-first energy policy. Thomas Aiello is Senior Director of Government Affairs at National Taxpayers Union
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pueblo citizens urge Hurd to vote ‘no' on Medicaid cuts
(PUEBLO, Colo.) — Some community members in Pueblo came together on Sunday, May 18, to urge Representative Jeff Hurd to vote 'No' on any bill cutting funds to Medicaid. On Saturday, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pushed forward a plan aimed at saving $880 billion by cutting Medicaid funding. The proposal would end funding methods that many states rely on and penalize states covering people who entered the U.S. illegally. Some in Pueblo say Jeff Hurd has been quiet on matters about the policy, and are asking him to speak up. 'Jeff Hurd needs to understand that he is working for us and not Donald Trump,' said Center for Health Progress Kebin Abernathy. 'He was elected by Colorado Congressional District 3, maybe not by all of us, but he does represent all of us, and he needs to listen to all of us.' The plan could leave more than 10 million people without Medicaid and 7.6 million more by 2034. 'Working at the Department of Human Services for almost 20 years, Medicaid isn't just a program, it's faces, it's people,' said Josette Jaramillo. 'It's the people that rely on Medicaid for their treatment, for their medications, for their behavioral health programs.' Those who rallied together on Sunday are asking Hurd to speak up and vote no on the proposed Medicaid cuts that would allegedly put 228,000 working people in Colorado's Third Congressional District at risk, along with several healthcare and public service workers' jobs. FOX21 News reached out to Jeff Hurd's Office for comment and is still awaiting a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP push for Medicaid cuts could have political ramifications for party
Republicans in Congress seem focused on passing a budget with deep spending cuts to programs except defense while making the tax cuts adopted during the first Trump administration permanent. The President promised there would not be any cuts to Medicaid, yet the most recent draft from the House would cut Medicaid spending by the federal government. The proposal also has a work requirement for adults. Those cuts are mathematically unavoidable given the plan for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to eliminate $880 billion over ten years. This has actually generated some opposition from within the Republican party. Host Jim Niedelman brings back Elesha Gayman and Kurt Whalen to discuss. 'I think it's a dangerous path, there's no question about it,' Whalen said. 'This is going to have catastrophic results,' Gayman said. To hear more, click on the video. And now we want to hear from you, too, with our question of the week: What do you think about the federal budget proposal that would cut Medicaid and cause millions of people to lose their healthcare coverage? Please share your thoughts at 4therecord@ Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present , a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. It's a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as brings you up to speed on what's happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
