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RFK Jr. Taps Haridopolos as Temporary Surgeon General
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. enlisted health official Stephanie Haridopolos to temporarily take on some of the responsibilities of the US surgeon general, he said in an email to staff viewed by Bloomberg News.
The Trump administration has not had a confirmed surgeon general because two nominees for the role were pulled before confirmation votes in the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated radiologist and former Fox News contributor Nicole Saphier to the role last month.
However, there is a backlog of nominees for the Senate committee in charge of confirming health officials. The same committee oversees the nomination the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA commissioner resigned last week and a nominee to fill the role has not been announced.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Signs MAHA Bill Into Law Alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law the “Iowa Make America Healthy Again Act” during an event Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines. House File 2676 prohibits schools from serving food and drinks containing some artificial dyes and additives, limits screen time for students, requires more PE, bans SNAP food assistance funds from being used to purchase items like soda and candy, and more.
The bill was originally proposed by Reynolds. It passed the House and Senate in April.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Reynolds in Des Moines for the signing. “Iowa is showing the country what bold public health leadership looks like,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. Terminates Heads of Preventive Services Task Force Amid Overhaul
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. quietly removed the two top leaders of a key preventive services panel last week as he seeks to overhaul its membership. The US Preventive Services Task Force determines what preventive care — such as mammograms and colonoscopies — Americans can receive at no cost. But it has not met for more than a year, and half of the 16 seats are unfilled.
The unusual move comes as the administration is seeking new members for the task force, and its leaders would typically be involved in the vetting process. Their removal has raised concerns of political interference as Kennedy seeks to wield more influence over HHS’s panels of independent medical experts.
Drs. John Wong of Tufts Medical Center and Esa Davis of the University of Maryland School of Medicine received letters from Kennedy that said the action stemmed from a review of current appointments to task force. Wong and Davis served as chair and vice chair, respectively. “The Department is taking this step to help protect the Task Force and preserve confidence in the continuity and durability of its work,” said the letter, which has been viewed by CNN.
U.S. Begins Screening Some Travelers for Ebola at Major International Airports
Travel Market Report reported:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has started screening passengers for Ebola at major international gateways after an American medical missionary tested positive for the disease this week. The medical worker, who was treating patients at a hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was medically evacuated to Germany for treatment.
The positive case is part of an outbreak that has spread across Central Africa, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. All of the cases are traced back to the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola that has only been seen twice previously and is considered less lethal than other variants, though still has a mortality rate of between 25% and 50%.
For now, the U.S. is screening American citizens and permanent residents who visited the affected regions — currently the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan — within 21 days of their return. Those travelers are being routed through major U.S. airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport.
Fish and Wildlife Service Clears a Weedkiller, Saying It Won’t Cause Extinctions
The Trump administration has determined that atrazine, a weedkiller used widely on corn and other crops, does not pose an extinction risk to threatened or endangered wildlife, effectively justifying its continued use, according to a federal review made public this week.
The findings were the latest turn in a yearslong policy battle over a herbicide that has become a pillar of food production in America, but has been linked to hormonal disruptions in frogs and contamination of waterways across the country, along with cancer and other diseases in humans.
The outcome of the review, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was a victory for agricultural groups, including the Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association. Farmers applied on average 72 million pounds of atrazine a year on 75 million acres of crops, mostly corn, sorghum and sugar cane, according to the most recently available data.
The agricultural lobby has argued that losing access to atrazine could sharply reduce crop yields and raise food costs. Atrazine’s primary manufacturer is Syngenta, owned by the Chinese conglomerate Sinochem.
After USDA Cuts, Complaints Over Food Safety Spike
The number of consumer complaints filed about the safety of meat, poultry and egg products jumped nearly 40% last year, to 2,016 from 1,443 in 2024, according to a new federal report. The report comes a year after the Trump administration approved some of the most sweeping staffing cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in recent memory.
Between January and June of last year, the USDA reduced its workforce by 18%. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency responsible for placing inspectors in slaughterhouses and processing plants, lost about 9% of its staff.
Despite the reductions, the FSIS continued to handle major food safety events.
According to the report, the agency investigated uninspected beef tallow products, oversaw a recall of 58 million pounds of corn dogs after foreign objects were discovered and responded to seven multistate outbreaks of foodborne illness. Four of those outbreaks were linked to Listeria monocytogenes, resulting in roughly 250 illnesses and 140 hospitalizations. But the staffing cuts raise questions about the agency’s capacity to manage a growing volume of complaints and whether the increase in complaints is connected to reduced oversight.
