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Trump Says Autism ‘Has to Be Artificially Induced’
President Trump said Thursday that autism must not occur naturally, citing figures inflating the spike in autism and suggesting the administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission could provide answers.
“When you hear 10,000, it was 1 in 10,000, and now it’s 1 in 31 for autism, I think that’s just a terrible thing. It has to be something on the outside, has to be artificially induced, has to be,” Trump said at a MAHA Commission event. “And we will not allow our public health system to be captured by the very industries it’s supposed to oversee. So we’re demanding the answers, the public is demanding the answers and that’s why we’re here.”
He noted that the administration is phasing out eight of the most common artificial food dyes, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced actions last month to phase out the use of petroleum-based food dyes in U.S. food products, citing concerns over potential health impacts on children.
Missouri Congressman Seeks Help From RFK Jr. On Cancer Cases Among Teachers at Elementary School
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves has asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help investigate cancer cases at a Missouri elementary school where, in recent years, multiple teachers have faced cancer diagnoses.
In a letter this week to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Graves said that parents, teachers and staff at Warren Hills Elementary in Liberty are looking for answers after at least six teachers have been diagnosed with cancer in recent years.
The Republican congressman who represents northern Missouri, including Liberty, asked for Kennedy’s help in “uncovering the root causes” of the “concerning” number of cases. “That’s an unbelievable and unimaginable amount of tragedy for an elementary school with fewer than 650 students and 40 teachers to experience over such a short time,” Graves wrote.
“The teachers, parents and staff at Warren Hills Elementary School need some answers as to why so many of their friends, colleagues and loved ones are being diagnosed with cancer. “Or at least the peace of mind of knowing that a truly thorough and independent study has looked into all the possible factors that could be causing this.”
Federal Judge Extends Order Blocking RFK Jr. From Reorganizing HHS
The Trump administration has been barred from carrying out its sweeping plan to restructure and downsize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), following a court order that also applies to about 20 other federal agencies.
The late Thursday decision by a California judge extends an order halting HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan, which called for consolidating the health agency from 28 divisions into 15, and firing about 10,000 full-time employees. That effort has led to mass departures at the FDA and has sparked concern that the changes could cause delays and other disruptions with drug regulation.
The preliminary injunction granted by District Judge Susan Illston applies to HHS and other agencies across the federal government. It blocks them from “further implementing” reduction in force and reorganization plans to the extent that they would execute directives from the White House or the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management.
RFK Jr. Claims Federal ‘Team’ Is in Milwaukee for School Lead Crisis; City Says There Isn’t
Since January, Milwaukee has been dealing with dangerous levels of lead dust in some public schools, resulting in nine school closures. On Tuesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a Senate committee there was a federal “team” in the city from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program — though the positions were cut in April.
“We are continuing to fund the program in Milwaukee, we have a team in Milwaukee, we’re giving laboratory support to the analytics in Milwaukee, and we’re working with the health department in Milwaukee,” Kennedy said when questioned by Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
The Milwaukee Health Department disputed Kennedy’s statement. “There is no team from HHS or CDC in Milwaukee assisting with the MPS lead hazard response,” department spokesperson Caroline Reinwald wrote in an email.
Kennedy has previously suggested the childhood lead program would be reinstated and told U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin last week that lead poisoning in children is an “extremely significant” concern. Reed had asked Kennedy about the program’s fate in light of those comments.
Funding Cuts Are a ‘Gut Punch’ for STEM Education Researchers
More than half of the National Science Foundation grants terminated since April fund programs that would help students train in science, engineering and math. Change continues to ripple through the National Science Foundation as it tries to comply with the policies and priorities of the Trump administration. But the branch of the agency that funds STEM education research is taking a disproportionate hit.
STEM education research focuses on improving how students, from preschool to university, are trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That encompasses everything from adopting better curriculums and teaching methods to changing the way schools and districts are run.
“The work of STEM education has always been about creating a bigger tent, giving access to more students of all backgrounds so that our STEM work force better reflects the diversity and demographics of the American public,” said Mike Steele, a math education researcher at Ball State University and a former program officer in the National Science Foundation’s directorate of STEM education.
More than 1,400 research grants at the foundation have been canceled since April, according to Grant Watch, a crowdsourced online database.
