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Cassidy Blasts Vaccine Order, Saying Trump Has No ‘Expertise to Make These Changes’
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) blasted an executive order President Trump signed Monday that splits the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot across three separate visits.
“I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Cassidy wrote on social platform X shortly after the order was signed.
“Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots. It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.”
Trump’s order follows a January effort by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to shrink the number of childhood vaccines, which was blocked by a judge in March.
Fauci Contempt Vote Presents DOJ With ‘Incredibly Messy’ Choices
The push to charge former COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci with contempt of Congress is full of pitfalls for prosecutors, should the Justice Department choose to take up the case. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the criminal referral Aug 6, arguing that Fauci’s assertion of his Fifth Amendment rights 111 times during a hearing the week before amounts to contempt.
The resolution, spearheaded by the committee’s chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.), has not been vetted by the full Senate, something former prosecutors say is key in building a contempt case.
But even if the measure is taken up and approved after the August recess, experts see other issues with a potential case, questioning grand jurors’ interest in bringing charges after an individual asserted a valid constitutional right — as well as the Trump administration’s appetite for a case that could diminish the power of a presidential pardon.
Despite Federal Efforts to Drop Some Children’s Vaccine Recommendations, Texas Requirements Unchanged
While vaccine requirements have not changed for Texas students this year — despite federal efforts to drop and space out some inoculations — Becca Harkleroad understands how many parents are confused. “Despite all the confusion that hits the news … nothing’s changed,” said Harkleroad, the executive director of the Texas School Nurses Organization.
In January, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped the rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines from the recommended list. But a federal judge in Massachusetts — and a Biden appointee — halted that move in March, keeping the pre-2026 vaccine recommendations in place. The federal government is appealing that decision. Then on Monday, President Donald Trump ordered the splitting up of the common measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three separate shots.
The three have been combined into a single shot since 1971 to help ensure children do not delay or miss doses and after hearing from parents who wanted to reduce the number of doctor visits needed to complete vaccinations. But because each state, including Texas, is able to set up its own recommendations, Trump’s move serves as a guideline, not a mandate, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed.
According to the state’s health department, nothing has changed for the 2026-2027 school year.
Federal Court Approves Settlements That Will Pay New Jersey $2.5 Billion for PFAS Contamination
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:
A federal judge in Camden approved settlements with DuPont and 3M that will pay New Jersey up to $2.5 billion over the next quarter century to remediate damages from decades of manufacturing and use of PFAS chemicals in the state. The order Aug 7 by Renée Marie Bumb, chief U.S. district judge for New Jersey, ends a legal battle over so-called forever chemicals that started in 2019 and resulted in agreements last year that survived objections by counties, municipalities, and others over the settlement’s structure.
“This is truly a historic moment for New Jersey, which has experienced disproportionate and extensive pollution impacts from decades of PFAS manufacturing and use by DuPont and 3M,” Ed Potosnak, acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said in a news release.
The DuPont portion of the settlement covers two South Jersey manufacturing sites: Chambers Works in Pennsville and Carney’s Point, Salem County, and Repauno Works in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County. Two additional DuPont locations covered by the settlement are in Middlesex and Passaic Counties.
A Pillar of Environmental Enforcement Is Targeted by Trump and Musk’s AI Company
Right-leaning legal activists along with Elon Musk ’s artificial intelligence company have brought sweeping challenges against a cornerstone of legal enforcement in the United States: the right of private groups, people and local governments to sue over violations of many major laws.
Their argument, supported by the Trump administration, is that the Constitution reserves tremendous power for the president and federal agencies to decide how — or whether at all — to enforce federal law. They contend Congress should never have handed that power to others through so-called citizen suits that are part of environmental, campaign finance and certain other laws.
Environmentalists say it would be devastating to lose this essential, decades-old tool that is used to impose fines and halt lawbreaking by bad actors. Citizen suits, for example, have extracted millions from heavily polluting oil and gas operations, and ensured that lead pipes in Flint, Michigan, would be removed after its water crisis.
EPA Moves to Rescind Biden-Era Tribal Water Quality Rule
The Trump administration plans to rescind an EPA rule requiring states to consider tribes’ rights to fish, hunt and gather wild plants when establishing water quality protections — a policy the administration argues went beyond the agency’s authority.
Finalized under the Biden administration, the rule provided an avenue for tribes to compel state and federal regulators to account for their consumption of traditional plants and animals when setting water quality standards. Those standards form the basis for protecting rivers, lakes and other water bodies from pollution.
Under works for months, the agency is now close to moving forward with a proposal to rescind the rule, according to a notice Friday by the Office of Management and Budget.
The rule, “Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions To Protect Tribal Reserved Rights,” was a key part of the Biden administration’s strategy to address water pollution and infrastructure challenges on tribal lands.
