With a spotlight on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and Medicare, RFK Jr. goes before the Senate The MAHA nominee trumpets radical transparency, but offers little clarity on his new agenda

In the Headlines: What’s in Trump’s draft budget?

A confidential Trump administration budget document obtained by The Cancer Letter called for a 40% budget cut to NIH and a restructuring of the 27 existing NIH institutes and centers down to just eight. But what else is in it?

April 23, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

Confidential Trump administration budget documents show that the upcoming FY26 Budget Request will radically cut about $50 billion out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reshuffling agency components, and slashing the number of NIH institutes and centers to just eight.

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”

As he addressed FDA employees, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the Trump era as a “generational opportunity to make the regulatory agency live up to its foundational ideals” and emerge from the morass of what he described as the “deep state.”

April 18, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

By Jacquelyn Cobb

Amid HHS upheaval, Bhattacharya takes the helm at NIH, Makary at FDA
Meanwhile, NASEM sounds “SOS” for health infrastructure

The day before health economist Jay Bhattacharya stepped into his new role as NIH director, he sent a document to his employees outlining his top five priorities for the department, which included “reproducibility” and “transparency,” two themes he discussed at his confirmation hearings (The Cancer Letter, March 7, 2025).

April 04, 2025

Vol.51 No.13

By Claire Marie Porter, Paul Goldberg and Jacquelyn Cobb

Podcast

In The Headlines: HHS shakeup threatens a legacy of medical breakthroughs

“For the last 50 years every major medical breakthrough can be traced back to investments in the NIH, which houses the National Cancer Institute (NCI),” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, interim chief executive officer of American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

April 02, 2025

Vol.51 No.12

Capitol Hill

Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit
Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is making sweeping revisions by cutting personnel, centralizing functions, and consolidating divisions.

March 28, 2025

Vol.51 No.12

By Claire Marie Porter and Jacquelyn Cobb

With a spotlight on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and Medicare, RFK Jr. goes before the Senate

The MAHA nominee trumpets radical transparency, but offers little clarity on his new agenda

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

In the Headlines: What’s in Trump’s draft budget?

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”

Amid HHS upheaval, Bhattacharya takes the helm at NIH, Makary at FDA
Meanwhile, NASEM sounds “SOS” for health infrastructure

In The Headlines: HHS shakeup threatens a legacy of medical breakthroughs

Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit
Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

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With a spotlight on vaccines, abortion, Medicaid and Medicare, RFK Jr. goes before the Senate

The MAHA nominee trumpets radical transparency, but offers little clarity on his new agenda

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

In the Headlines: What’s in Trump’s draft budget?

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eightNCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”Whistleblowers will be “honored”

Amid HHS upheaval, Bhattacharya takes the helm at NIH, Makary at FDAMeanwhile, NASEM sounds “SOS” for health infrastructure

In The Headlines: HHS shakeup threatens a legacy of medical breakthroughs

Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hitAlso this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

Never miss an issue!

Login

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”

Amid HHS upheaval, Bhattacharya takes the helm at NIH, Makary at FDA
Meanwhile, NASEM sounds “SOS” for health infrastructure

Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit
Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology