Blog | 2/21/2025

Trump Administration Healthcare News: February 21, 2025

Health Advances weekly healthcare tracker focused on top level government administration news.

NOTE: All words/analysis are those from the source noted, opinions are those of the original authors and not reflective of Health Advances in general nor any individual. All sources are non-confidential and in the public domain (but some may be behind paywalls).

This issue reflects news as of 11 AM on February 20, 2025. The details and broad themes may have changed!

KEY HEALTH NEWS (Global & US & EOs)

Executive Order: Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization

Executive Order: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

  • The order lays out the Trump Administration’s policy to withhold discretionary federal funding from educational institutions that require students to have received the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school in person. 
  • Specifically, the order directs the Secretary of Education to issue guidance related to “coercive COVID-19 school [vaccine] mandates” in light of existing legal obligations “as soon as practicable.”  It further directs the Secretary of Education to consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to end such mandates within 90 days of the order.
  • The plan will include a list of discretionary federal grants and contracts provided to educational institutes that are not compliant with the guidance and a process for preventing federal funds from being provided to non-compliant educational institutions.
  • https://www.f3law.com/insights/executive-order-regarding-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-102k0fz/

HHS Takes Action on President Trump’s Executive Orders “Defending Women and Children”

  • As part of the initiative, HHS released guidance to the U.S. government, external partners, and the public to expand on the clear sex-based definitions in Executive Order 14168 -- “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
  • The guidance recognizes there are only two sexes: male and female. HHS will use these definitions and promote policies acknowledging that women are biologically female and men are biologically male.
  • HHS is also taking steps to implement policies protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation, as directed by President Trump’s Executive Order 14187 and keeping men out of women’s sports as specified in Executive Order 14201.
  • Also today, HHS’ Office on Women’s Health launched a webpage to promote guidance on sex-based definitions and other resources on efforts to protect women and children.
  • https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2025/02/19/hhs-takes-action-president-trumps-executive-orders-defending-women-children.html
  • OASH page: https://womenshealth.gov/protecting-women-and-children

KEY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

Kennedy promises shake-up at HHS, vows to question health standards

  • Kennedy pledged to investigate previously “taboo” topics like childhood vaccines, antidepressants, processed foods, electromagnetic radiation and glyphosate, saying he would rely on “unbiased science.”
  • He avoided addressing mass firings and budget cuts at HHS but suggested that staff resistant to his reforms could leave.
  • A new commission, formed by President Donald Trump and chaired by Kennedy, will examine chronic disease causes, including childhood obesity and overmedication.
  • https://www.ehn.org/kennedy-promises-shake-up-at-hhs-vows-to-question-health-standards-2671182486.html

Trump administration fires 5,200 HHS employees

  • This includes about 1,300 employees, or 10% of the workforce, at the CDC and 1,500 employees at the NIH.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services is losing an estimated 5,200 probationary employees, according to an audio recording of a National Institutes of Health department meeting reported by the Associated Press.
  • Probationary workers are being let go as part of efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, task force headed by billionaire Elon Musk, to shrink government spending.
  • The Trump administration is cutting about 1,300 employees, or 10% of the workforce, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to NPR.
  • As many as 1,500 employees at the National Institutes of Health were laid off.
  • https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/trump-administration-fires-5200-hhs-employees

Trump administration slashes funding for ACA navigators

  • The CMS on Friday announced a record cut in funding for community groups that help consumers learn about and select ACA plans.
  • The Trump administration has slashed funding for groups that help consumers navigate the Affordable Care Act exchanges by 90%, in the largest cut since the program began over one decade ago.
  • The ACA Navigator program will receive $10 million in funding annually going forward, down from $98 million last year, the CMS announced Friday. The cuts, which apply only to navigators working in the federal exchanges, will save $360 million over the next four years, according to the agency.
  • https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/trump-slashes-aca-navigator-funding-cms/740180/

Drug inspectors, AI experts, maternal health workers: Trump’s health agency cuts are far-reaching

  • The total number of workers let go was unclear — senior officials had told STAT on Friday that as many as 5,200 might receive termination notices, though the exact figure is now expected to be somewhat lower.
  • There may also have been some reprieves. It was reported that the Indian Health Service was in line for big cuts; but those had not yet materialized.
  • Likewise, members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service program, run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had been warned Friday they were to be fired, but by midday Monday none had received termination letters.
  • https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/17/trump-layoffs-hhs-impact-on-health-safety-cdc-fda-cms/ (subscription required for full article)

Food Head at FDA Resigns, Citing Numerous Job Cuts

  • Jim Jones, the head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration who oversaw the agency’s banning of the food dye Red No. 3 earlier this year, stepped down on Monday, citing widespread cuts across the agency that he said will make it hard to implement the types of changes the Trump administration is seeking, according to a document viewed by Bloomberg News.
  • “I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,” he said in a resignation letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner. Jones said that given the new administration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to make these changes, it would be “fruitless for me to continue in this role.”
  • Jones pointed to the layoffs of 89 staffers in the food division, cuts he called “indiscriminate.”
  • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-18/food-head-at-fda-resigns-citing-numerous-job-cuts-in-division

President Donald J. Trump Nominates Individuals to Key Posts at the Department of Health and Human Services

Trump’s vow to preserve Medicaid collides with House GOP plan for tax cuts

  • Trump on Wednesday endorsed the House Republicans’ plan to move “one big beautiful bill,” combining immigration and energy policies with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. A large part of that cost, according to the GOP’s budget blueprint, would be offset by reductions in Medicaid spending.
  • Yet hours earlier, the president had vowed to preserve Medicare and Medicaid in their current form. Republicans, he suggested, would find the budget savings for the tax cuts elsewhere.
  • Trump’s promise clashes directly with the House GOP’s budget plan, which seeks as much as $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade.
  • The GOP’s budget resolution is poised to hit the House floor next week.
  • https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5154286-trump-medicaid-cuts-gop-plan/

Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information, sources say

  • The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
  • Acting Commissioner Michelle King’s departure from the agency over the weekend – after more than 30 years of service – was initiated after King refused to provide DOGE staffers at the SSA with access to sensitive information, the people said Monday.
  • The White House has replaced her as acting commissioner with Leland Dudek, who currently works at the SSA, the people said.
  • White House spokesperson Harrison Fields released a statement Monday night saying: “President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.”
  • https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/17/politics/social-security-head-steps-down-doge-access/index.html

VA dismisses more than 1,000 employees

  • Those dismissed today include non-bargaining unit probationary employees who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment.
  • There are currently more than 43,000 probationary employees across the department, the vast majority of whom are exempt from today’s personnel actions because they serve in mission-critical positions – primarily those supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries – or are covered under a collective bargaining agreement.
  • VA Secretary Doug Collins. “To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”
  • https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-dismisses-more-than-1000-employees/

KEY BIOPHARMA NEWS

Trump to meet pharma leaders as they seek drug policy changes

  • U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Thursday with chief executives from major drugmakers, a White House official confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday, as the industry tries to win government support for drug pricing and insurance changes.
  • The meeting is expected to cover topics including Medicare drug price negotiations, the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and tariffs on pharmaceutical products, according to an industry source with knowledge of the matter.
  • The White House did not say who would be attending, but Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the meeting will include Stephen Ubl, head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main lobby group for drugmakers.
  • https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-meet-pharma-leaders-they-seek-drug-policy-changes-2025-02-20/

KEY DIAGNOSTICS – LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH NEWS

Updated: Federal government defends lab-developed test rule in Texas court

  • An attorney for the federal government said the FDA “acted well within its authority” when it published a rule that brings laboratory-developed tests under the agency’s regulation.
  • The government and laboratory diagnostics trade groups clashed in a court hearing on Wednesday over a federal rule that has faced harsh criticism from laboratories and pathologists.
  • The government’s arguments during the hearing, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, could signal the stance the Trump administration may take on the rule going forward.
  • At least two industry organizations have asked the Trump administration to rescind the rule, but it remains unclear what incoming health leaders will do.
  • https://endpts.com/government-is-set-to-address-its-lab-developed-test-rule-in-court/ (free login required)

KEY HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HIT) NEWS

FDA cuts hit AI division, even as Trump invests in the technology

DEA, HHS delay effective date of virtual OUD prescribing rule to March

  • The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Health and Human Services submitted an unpublished rule to the Federal Register on Feb. 14 that delays the effective date of the “Expansion of Buprenorphine Treatment via Telemedicine Encounter” final rule, from Feb. 18 to March 21. Also delayed is the effective date of the "Continuity of Care via Telemedicine for Veterans Affairs Patients" final rule.
  • The administration specified that its pushback will not impede telemedicine prescribing in the interim, as those covered under the two rules are still permitted to do so under temporary COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities that run through the end of this year.
  • https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/fate-virtual-oud-treatment-lies-mess-intertwined-regulations

KEY MEDTECH NEWS

Trump administration cuts reach FDA employees in food safety, medical devices and tobacco products

  • Reuters reports that the FDA cuts extended to some agency employees reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain-computer interface (BCI) company.
  • The report said the firings included around 20 people in the FDA’s office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices. Several of those employees worked on Neuralink and other BCI devices, the report said, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
  • Reuters said both sources did not believe the Trump administration — and Musk as head of the Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — specifically targeted them due to their work on Neuralink’s regulatory submissions. The report, however, quoted former FDA official, Victor Krauthamer, expressing concern over the impact the cuts could have. Krauthamer spent more than three decades at the FDA and spent time as acting director of the office that reviews human trial requests for BCIs.
  • https://www.massdevice.com/fda-medtech-regulators-latest-trump-layoffs/

CDRH Staff Slashed

  • Among the terminated staff was Ross “Rusty” Segan, who joined CDRH last fall to run its Office of Product Evaluation and Quality (OPEQ), which houses all of the center’s premarket review staff, as well as surveillance and compliance officers.
  • The actions came as part of the Trump administration’s mass terminations of “probationary” employees carried out at federal agencies
  • More than 200 CDRH employees received termination notices, according to multiple sources speaking on background, accounting for about 10% of the center’s workforce.
  • Many of the impacted individuals were hired in the past year or two, but there are also more experienced scientists who originally joined FDA under a fellowship and entered a new probationary period after officially transitioning to a civil service position.
  • Industry sources with close ties to the agency suggested departments focused on medical imaging, diagnostics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and diabetes devices were among the most impacted.

CURRENT APPOINTEE STATUS

 https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/political-appointee-tracker/

KEY ACRONYMS

  • ACA = Affordable Care Act
  • CDRH = Center for Devices and Radiological Health
  • CMS = Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • DOGE = Department of Government Efficiency
  • EO = Executive Order
  • FDA = Food and Drug Administration
  • HHS = Department of Health and Human Services
  • OIRA = Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
  • OMB = Office of Management and Budget
  • UNRWA = United Nations Relief and Works Agency
  • USAID = U.S. Agency for International Development
  • WHO = World Health Organization

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