Budget battle

Senators are scheduled to vote on RFK Jr.'s nomination this morning at the same time that House Budget Committee Republicans will be marking up a bill with $880 billion in potential cuts to the Medicaid program that the HHS secretary oversees.

The House budget reconciliation bill, introduced yesterday, does not mention Medicaid by name. But it directs the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to come up with $880 billion in cuts. Adding work requirements to Medicaid, which is viewed as the most achievable Medicaid reform, would save $100 billion over a decade.

Senate Republicans also have begun considering their own, narrower budget reconciliation bill. They want to quickly move on energy policy, and border and defense spending, which are not expected to involve Medicaid cuts. Tax cuts and corresponding Medicaid offsets would be handled later in a second budget reconciliation bill under the Senate Republican approach.

maha

The fight over seed oils

STAT is running a series of stories that examines the major elements of the Make America Healthy Again movement. First up is a really interesting article by Sarah Todd on the debate over seed oils.

MAHA-frontman RFK Jr. called seed oils "one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods."

For now, there is no clear evidence that seed oils are harmful, and switching to alternatives like butter or lard is likely worse.

But the backlash against seed oils exposes something deeper about the MAHA movement. Seed oils are the invention of an industrialized food system that Americans increasingly blame for the rise in chronic disease. And, as always, there is money to be made from fear of food ingredients.

research funding

Brain drain?

STAT reporters have been all over the research-funding cuts that NIH announced Friday. I count at least six stories that Angus Chen and Jonathan Wosen have written.

The two team up for the latest installment, which looks at the risk of the United States ceding its dominance in biomedicine.

More than a dozen scientists and academics across the country expressed concern that attacks on NIH and academia could drive talented young scientists away from academic research or to positions overseas, damaging medical and scientific innovation.

industry

Pharma's deafening silence

If NIH funding cuts threaten biomedical research in the United States, you wouldn't know it from talking to drugmakers.

STAT's Adam Feuerstein looks into the matter. Drugmakers have decided it's best to privately engage the administration while publicly keeping their mouths shut.

But is that really the best approach? Read more from Adam to find out whether pharma might change its tactics.

personnel

NIH's No. 2 executive retires

Larry Tabak, NIH's longtime second-in-command official, is retiring, Lev Facher scoops.

Tabak's tenure spans four presidential administrations, and includes a nearly two-year stint as the agency's acting director following the 2021 departure of its longtime leader, Francis Collins.

At 73, his retirement is not shocking, but the timing adds to the unease at the agency.

executive orders

Payola

Is bribery really all that bad?

Trump is pausing enforcement of a law against bribing foreign officials, Ed Silverman writes. In an executive order issued on Monday, federal authorities were instructed to halt new investigations and enforcement actions while U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi reviews existing probes and assesses the extent to which the law promotes "American interests" and "economic competitiveness."

Has there been a problem of drugmakers bribing foreign officials? Find out by reading Ed's story.

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What we're reading

Apple launches sweeping new health study that may inform future features, STAT
Why the health care industry is letting RFK Jr. cruise to confirmation, Politico
Science editor-in-chief Holden Thorp's advice for other scientists with autism, STAT
Republicans Love Trump's Spending Cuts. Just Not in Their States. The New York Times