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Trump Officials Halt ‘Dangerous’ Research, Overriding NIH Career Scientists
In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office surrounded by his top health officials, vowing a crackdown on “dangerous gain-of-function research” on viruses and pathogens that he alleged was occurring in the U.S. with inadequate oversight. “It’s a big deal,” Trump had said, alluding to the highly contested theory that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a lab leak related to such research in China.
Soon after, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent weeks assessing experiments for risk and preparing a report for the White House on what studies to halt, according to internal emails obtained by The Washington Post and interviews with two career staffers familiar with the process.
But after the director of the NIH’s infectious-disease institute signed off on the findings, the politically appointed No. 2 in command at the NIH, Matthew Memoli, overrode career staff, according to the emails and staffers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
Nearly a dozen tuberculosis studies that relied on long-standing research methods deemed safe by the reviewers were then added to the list.
FDA Taps Biotech Industry Veteran as RFK Jr.’s Top Drug Regulator
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday it has appointed former biotech executive George Tidmarsh as the agency’s top drug regulator. Tidmarsh, an adjunct professor of pediatrics and neonatology at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, Fpauswill lead one of the biggest and most crucial divisions of the FDA, which reviews the vast majority of new drug applications.
The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, or CDER, regulates over-the-counter and prescription treatments, including biologic therapies and generics. The acting head of CDER, Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, announced in June she was retiring.
Tidmarsh will step in as the FDA and its regulatory process face massive upheaval under Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has pursued deep staff cuts across HHS and, in some cases, brought in new employees who either lack relevant scientific and medical experience or share his skepticism of vaccines.
HHS Launches Overhaul of Organ Transplant System After Finding Life Safety Violations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., unveiled a major reform initiative at 1:02 PM EDT on Monday, July 21, 2025, to address systemic issues within the nation’s organ transplant system.
An investigation by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) exposed disturbing practices by a federally-funded organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and part of West Virginia.Secretary Kennedy expressed alarm, stating, “Our findings reveal that hospitals permitted organ procurement to begin while patients showed signs of life — a horrifying violation.” He emphasized holding OPOs accountable and reforming the system to honor the sanctity of every potential donor’s life.
The HRSA probe, which reopened a case previously dismissed under the Biden administration, uncovered negligence after an independent review contradicted the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network’s earlier findings of no major concerns.
E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm
The decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to slash the federal work force and dismantle agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Friday that it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, after denying for months that it intended to do so.
The move underscores how the Trump administration is forging ahead with efforts to slash the federal work force and dismantle federal agencies after the Supreme Court allowed these plans to proceed while legal challenges unfold. Government scientists have been particular targets of the administration’s large-scale layoffs.
The decision to dismantle the EPA’s Office of Research and Development had been widely expected since March, when a leaked document that called for eliminating the office was first reported by The New York Times. But until Friday, the Trump administration maintained that no final decisions had been made.
The EPA’s science office provides the independent research that underpins nearly all of the agency’s policies and regulations. It has analyzed the risks of hazardous chemicals, the impact of wildfire smoke on public health and the contamination of drinking water by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Its research has often justified stricter environmental rules, prompting pushback from chemical manufacturers and other industries.
RFK Jr.’s Public Health Overhaul Could Disproportionately Put Black Lives at Risk
Alarm bells are ringing again for health advocates. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scrapped a meeting for a federal advisory task force charged with making recommendations for which preventive care treatments must be covered by insurance companies, including cancer screenings and tests for sexually transmitted infections. The future of the task force is now in doubt.
To advocates, this is another salvo in Kennedy’s broader effort to undermine public health, despite his promise during his Senate confirmation hearings to “empower” experts and promote “good science that is evidence-based.” Kennedy’s actions, they say, could disproportionately harm Black communities, who often rely on medical services at higher rates.
“This is a very sensitive time,” Jerry Abraham, the director of the CDU-KEDREN Mobile Street Medicine program in Los Angeles, told Capital B. “We could see increased burden and disease, increased mortality, and increased mistrust of our public sector entities, including anything federal government-related.”
