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Senate Health Committee Advances Nomination of C.D.C. Director
The Senate health committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Trump’s pick for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for a full Senate vote.
The committee’s Republican members and Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, all voted in favor of her candidacy, with the remaining Democrats opposed.
Dr. Schwartz is Mr. Trump’s third nominee in less than two years to lead the C.D.C. A deputy surgeon general in the first Trump administration, she has publicly supported childhood vaccines, and was viewed as a highly qualified, mainstream choice.
But at her hearing two weeks ago, Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and Republican of Louisiana, and several Democratic members expressed serious qualms about her willingness and ability to push back against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s policies.
Deadly Mold Infections May Be Far More Common Than Doctors Realized, CDC Study Finds
A little-known but often deadly mold infection may be far more common than previously believed, with new U.S. research showing that about one in three hospitalized patients diagnosed with the illness did not survive.
The study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identified about 450 cases of invasive mold disease across hospitals in the Atlanta area between 2020 and 2024. Roughly one-third of those patients died while in the hospital.
Researchers say the findings offer one of the clearest pictures yet of a disease that is not required to be reported to public health officials, making it difficult to track nationwide. “It’s kind of the first time we’ve had an estimate like this,” said Dr. Jeremy Gold, the study’s senior author at the CDC.
Online Fury Erupts as Conservatives Recall ‘Insane’ Covid-19 Lockdown Policies After Fauci Takes the Fifth
Conservatives aren’t willing to forgive and forget the COVID-19 lockdowns — a fact made clear online as fury erupted during and after Dr. Anthony Fauci’s appearance before Congress on Wednesday where he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Those who opposed the lockdowns, which Fauci bragged about helping implement in his now-infamous diary but extensively denied implementing publicly, had a field day online recalling the policies pushed by the one-time White House health advisor.
“Reminder how insane the world was in 2021,” Dr. Mollie James, a trauma surgeon and internet personality, said on X.
She was commenting on a video of professional golfer Jon Rahm, who was forced to withdraw from a PGA Tour event while holding a six-stroke lead because he tested positive for the virus while he was on the golf course. The winner of that tournament earned north of $1.6 million.
Bipartisan Anger Grows at Pentagon’s Delayed ‘Forever Chemicals’ Cleanups
In December, Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan, a staunch ally of President Trump and MAGA defender, took to the House floor to praise America’s military might, lauding its “will to face down potential aggressors.”
Then his speech took an unexpected turn, to pollution.
“We have much more to do,” he said. High on his list: cleaning up PFAS, the harmful “forever chemicals” that pollute hundreds of military sites nationwide. The Pentagon must prioritize “delivering environmental stewardship to communities impacted by PFAS,” Mr. Bergman said.
In a fiercely divided Washington, there is bipartisan anger at the stalled progress in cleaning up toxic chemicals at military bases. The delays have emerged as a rare issue uniting Democrats and Republicans in their criticism of the Pentagon.
