Author name: moderat ereport

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired two of his top aides, rattling his department’s leadership team amid his broader attack on the nation’s public health apparatus. The two ousted officials—chief of staff Heather Flick Melanson and deputy chief of staff for policy Hannah Anderson—were dismissed after only a few months on the job. CNN, which first reported the firings, said Kennedy had lost confidence in both, though it’s unclear what triggered the move. In a statement to CNN, an HHS spokesperson confirmed the departures and said White House liaison Matt Buckham would serve as acting chief of staff effective immediately.  “He brings valuable experience in personnel strategy and organizational management to this new role,” the spokesperson said. “Secretary Kennedy thanks the outgoing leadership for their service and looks forward to working closely with Mr. Buckham as the Department continues advancing its mission to Make America Healthy Again.” No permanent replacements have been named. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, shown in 2013. HHS oversees the work of major federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health—institutions now squarely in the crosshairs of Kennedy’s largely anti-science agenda. The leadership churn hasn’t stopped with Kennedy’s own staff, either. According to The Washington Post, NIH’s chief operating officer, Eric Schnabel, was recently fired as well.  The various shakeups come mere months into Kennedy’s tenure and leave him scrambling to fill key leadership roles amid mounting scrutiny of his radical plans to reshape health policy, gut vaccine programs, and overhaul the structure of the department itself. Flick Melanson was one of Kennedy’s more seasoned Washington players, having previously served as acting general counsel and senior adviser to then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar during Trump’s first term. Anderson, a former GOP Hill staffer and policy adviser to Senate Republicans, had recently worked on health care at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank. Politico reported that Flick Melanson had been viewed by some as a steadying hand—someone who understood the functions of the department, given concerns about how aggressively Kennedy might pursue his anti-science agenda. And yet, backed by President Donald Trump, Kennedy has charged ahead with his “Make America Healthy Again” crusade. Not only did he fire all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel and replace them with loyalists, but he also published a widely criticized, error-filled report on childhood illnesses. And he’s moved to axe 20,000 HHS staffers and slash dozens of agency divisions—all while facing a wave of legal challenges. His war on synthetic food dyes faces industry changes. And under his watch, HHS has taken a series of anti-vaccine actions that experts say have eroded public confidence in immunizations. More chaos at HHS under Kennedy. No surprise there.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump really, really wants to tank the economy And like so much of Trump’s agenda, it’s probably illegal. Democrats slam Trump and GOP for cover-up of Epstein files “Did anyone really think the sexual-predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?” 👀 Pentagon scales back its invasion of Los Angeles Who knew TACO also applied to domestic military campaigns? Bye-bye, Big Bird: GOP inches closer to gutting public media Trump’s agenda will hit rural America the hardest. Trump is gutting Medicaid—but rural America still won’t wake up Seriously, it’s like the guy is trying to crush his rural base. Cartoon: Tanks for nothing First, Trump tanks the economy, then he tanks education. Click here to see more cartoons.

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Trump and MAGA turn on each other over Epstein files

PoliticusUSA is 100% reader-supported with no corporate or political party influence. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe now After Trump called his supporters stupid for wanting the release of the Epstein files, the president pulled another distraction that he hoped would make his fans forget that he broke a major promise to them with Coca-Cola. Trump posted on Truth Social: I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better! Trump’s supporters want the Epstein files. Instead, they are going to get cane sugar in Coca-Cola. PoliticusUSA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Donald Trump has taken away healthcare from 17 million Americans and he is replacing it with cane sugar. The whole situation is beyond absurd. How bad is this for Trump? Here is what MAGA influencers had to say to Axios: “By continuing to go to war with the online MAGA class, he only continues to keep his unpopular stance on the issue front of mind,” one right-wing influencer told Axios. “It’s definitely become an inflection point online.” As one MAGAworld operative put it: “Villainizing your base for caring about the thing you told them to care about is never a good strategy.” Trump is going to war with his base, and that is a terrible idea. Donald Trump is becoming a man without a political country. The Epstein blowback is so dramatic because the same president who just bullied the Republican majority into passing legislation that they had reservations about is now getting more open and public criticism from his own supporters than he has ever gotten before. This is a turning point for MAGA, and Trump isn’t going to be able to buy his way out of this with Coke and cane sugar. What do you think about Trump’s attempt at distraction? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Leave a comment

The Trump administration has been deporting immigrants to random countries, and they couldn’t be more proud. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin boasted on X that “a safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed,” with 5 immigrants aboard. “This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,” she wrote. “These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem], they are off of American soil.” To back up the assertion, McLaughlin posted some photos of the alleged barbarians, along with their criminal convictions. Of course, their names are not provided, so as per usual, there’s no way to fact check the now-standard assertion that the people being deported are the very worst of the worst.  King Mswati III of Eswatini Similarly, when the Trump administration deported immigrants to South Sudan, McLaughlin made an almost identical statement, saying that it was necessary because “no country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes were so uniquely barbaric.” Just as the Trump administration decided it was fine to deport people to South Sudan despite warning people not to travel there because it’s too dangerous, it’s also content to ignore government reports on the human rights crisis in Eswatini.  The State Department’s 2023 report found “significant human rights issues” in Eswatini, including torture by the government, extrajudicial killings, lack of independence of the judiciary, trafficking, and child labor. Of course, neither immigrants nor their lawyers have any idea what exactly they will endure, but the report detailed overcrowding, nutrition deficiencies, lack of health services equipment, and gang violence in Eswatini’s prisons.  A spokesperson for the Eswatini government confirmed that the 5 immigrants are imprisoned in “isolated units” and that both Eswatini and the U.S. government will work with the United Nations to “facilitate the transit” of the men to their countries of origin.  It’s not entirely clear what that means, as it makes it sound like somehow the Trump administration deported people to Eswatini only to work jointly with that country to eventually send them home. Of course, that does not at all seem like the intent. According to a report from The New York Times report last month, the Trump administration has explored these trafficking arrangements with dozens of countries, many beset by violence, poverty, and human rights abuses. And of the 58 countries the administration has approached, many are covered by or are being considered for President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban.  Related | Rubio callously revokes visas for entire country over US mistake So it’s too dangerous to allow people from those countries into the United States, but it’s totally safe and cool to send people to their prisons. And in case countries were on the fence, the State Department told diplomats that these countries could possibly evade the travel ban if they take deportees.  We can expect much more of these blatant human rights violations, thanks to the Supreme Court blocking a lower court order requiring immigrants to have a reasonable chance to challenge their deportations. Now, people can be deported to any random country of Trump’s liking with as little as 6 hours’ notice.  The conservatives on the Supreme Court knew full well that their decision would open the floodgates to these evil actions. They just don’t care.