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Health experts say a second Trump term might make Americans sick — literally

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Health experts say a second Trump term might make Americans sick — literally

Former Trump administration health official Rick Bright published an op-ed in The New York Times warning of the nightmarish public health scenarios likely to unfold if Donald Trump is elected president again.

Bright ought to know. He was head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency in the Health and Human Services Department but became a whistleblower in 2020 to sound the alarm on the Trump administration’s mismanagement of the Covid pandemic.

In light of new and disturbing reporting about Trump giving Covid test machines to Russian President Vladimir Putin that year, Bright’s warnings about the potential destruction of health institutions in a second Trump term deserve attention. As he writes, Trump would be empowered to undermine public health measures even more than he did the first time if he retakes the White House. And he has a playbook to do just that.

Bright writes:

Now Mr. Trump seeks to return to power with a potentially more aggressive agenda to reshape our health institutions. Proposals supported by conservative initiatives like Project 2025 aim to split the C.D.C., stripping it of its ability to issue critical vaccine guidance, weaken the F.D.A.’s approval processes for key medical products and further slash N.I.H. funding. Some of these proposed changes, should Mr. Trump decide to embrace them, would require congressional approval. Yet a determined president could do a great deal of damage to our public health infrastructure through the installation of loyalists in key positions, redirection of funds and agency restructuring via executive actions.

Bright explains what that could look like in practice:

A weakened C.D.C. would struggle to provide unified guidance during health crises. N.I.H. cuts would impede crucial medical breakthroughs, jeopardizing advancements in cancer treatments, vaccines for diseases like Ebola and vital research on heart disease. A compromised F.D.A. could lead to hasty approvals of unproven treatments, eroding public trust in medical interventions. Furthermore, undermining these institutions would diminish America’s role in global health initiatives, leaving us more susceptible to international health threats.

This topic — about what public health would look like under a second Trump term — has been on my mind since the height of the pandemic, when thousands of Americans died monthly amid Trump’s arrogance and willful ignorance. And, as Bright mentioned, the threat of Trump implementing Project 2025, the far-right plan to pack the government with MAGA stooges, looms large over the health world with weeks to go until Election Day.

That’s why I recently chatted with Drs. Chris Pernell and Regina Davis Moss, two public health professionals who discussed what’s at stake in this election regarding Americans’ health and well-being. Pernell is the director of the NAACP’s Center for Health Equitywhile Moss is the president and CEO of “In Our Own Voice,” an organization that prides itself on leading the “National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda.”

Together, as part of ongoing coverage of Project 2025 from “The ReidOut,” we discussed abortion surveillance, anti-trans crackdowns, the health impact of hypermasculinity, the war on health equity, and the various ways conservatives’ far-right agenda for a second Trump term could make Americans sick … in more ways than one.

Stay tuned for a video of our conversation on The ReidOut Blog next week!

Ya’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”

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Hageman launches bid for Wyoming Senate seat

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Wyoming GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman on Tuesday announced her campaign for Senate, hoping to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis in next year’s election.

The Wyoming Republican is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, and with his backing she helped oust Republican then-Rep. Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Trump’s, in the 2022 primary.

“This fight is about making sure the next century sees the advancements of the last, while protecting our culture and our way of life,” Hageman said in her launch video. “We must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the next 100 years is the next great American century.”

Lummis announced she would not seek reelection last week, saying she felt like a “sprinter in a marathon” despite being a “devout legislator.” Hageman, who had been debating a gubernatorial bid, was expected to enter the Senate race.

Hageman touted her ties to the president in her announcement video, highlighting her record of support for Trump’s policies during her time in the House and vowing to keep Wyoming a “leader in energy and food production.”

“I worked with President Trump to pass 46 billion in additional funding for border security, while ensuring that Wyomingites do not pay the cost of new immigration. We work together to secure the border and fund efforts to remove and deport those in the country illegally,” she said.

Trump won the deep-red state by nearly 46 points in last year’s election, and Hageman herself was reelected by nearly 48 points, according to exit polling.

Still, Hageman bore the brunt of voters’ displeasure earlier this year during a town hall. As she spoke of the Department of Government Efficiency, federal cuts and Social Security, the crowd booed her.

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Ben Sasse says he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer

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Former Sen. Ben Sasse announced on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The Nebraska Republican shared the news on X, writing in a lengthy social media post that he had received the diagnosis last week.

“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence,” Sasse said. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”

The two term senator retired in 2023 and then went on to serve as president of the University of Florida. He eventually left the school to spend more time with his wife, Melissa, after she was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Sasse continued to teach classes at University of Florida’s Hamilton Center after he stepped down as president. He previously served as a professor at the University of Texas, as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services and as president of Midland University.

Sasse on Tuesday shared that he and his wife have only grown closer since and opened up about his children’s recent successes and milestones.

“There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst,” Sasse said. “As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.”

Sasse said he’ll have more to share in the future, adding that he is “not going down without a fight” and will be undergoing treatment.

“Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape,” Sasse said.

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Cannon keeps Jack Smith’s classified records report under wraps for now

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Cannon keeps Jack Smith’s classified records report under wraps for now

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday lifted restrictions on the release of former special counsel Jack Smith’s findings from his investigation into President Trump’s handling of classified records — but she gave the president a 60-day window to challenge her order. Cannon did not immediately lift her order barring the Justice Department from sharing…
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