Trump administration begins mass cuts of federal health policy researchers Two small HHS subagencies took big hits, and former and current employees say data-driven work will be severely impaired

https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/02/trump-administration-begins-mass-cuts-of-federal-health-policy-researchers/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8PXJlua3JqgKxQjuuSdQ0Of7nVjliEELZ2tWnffHfosfco5ZT7qV2GDt16r6dYvwwGqswMK5VsGEau1XLvYi07HHEcFw&_hsmi=354890839&utm_content=354890839&utm_source=hs_email STAT reporters have continued to get a clearer picture of how the cuts to federal health agencies are playing out, and the specific groups getting hit the hardest: More than half of employees at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have been laid off, STAT’s Bob Herman and Tara Bannow report. The two agencies made up about 0.04% of the federal government’s health care spending, but experts worry that gutting the departments will undercut efforts to improve care delivery and introduce political interference into data-driven organizations. Read more. The majority of staff, including the entire management and regulation divisions, were cut from the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, STAT’s Sarah Todd reports. The center has drawn criticism from all sides in recent years, and former officials, researchers, politicians, and others told Sarah that the cuts will only exacerbate problems with tobacco regulation and enforcement in the U.S. Read more. What FDA cuts could mean for the future of tobacco Sweeping cuts at the Center for Tobacco Products have experts worried about implications for chronic disease https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/03/trump-fda-cuts-raise-questions-tobacco-control-regulation-stop-smoking-efforts/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8YUuP9Cxzp-FAewXmgU2H5zvG3plu4EhfrcwmHaMBeckvL9RxbU4F64gPLxCVQmdUMnatj0isdV398vv15vVC0Rhit6Q&_hsmi=354890839&utm_content=354890839&utm_source=hs_email At the NIH, scientists and other staff are left wondering where the agency is headed amid the cuts. Yesterday afternoon, a group of scientists sued the agency, arguing that an “ideological purge” of research funding is illegal and threatens medical cures. But a paper published last week — titled “A Blueprint for NIH Reform” — is circulating in academic circles, and may provide a clue to what agency leadership has in mind. It was written by Martin Kulldorff, a collaborator of the agency’s new director, Jay Bhattacharya, who is also on the editorial board of the publication, called the Journal of the Academy of Public Health. STAT’s Anil Oza wrote about the details of the blueprint and what scientists think about it. Scientists sue NIH, saying politics cut their research funding The suit aims to restore funding of grants that have been cancelled https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/02/scientists-sue-nih-over-grant-cuts/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ykJ_luPfhupGznX-IGHDLAUuTT-7TfkGOOeTjIN0VihsYswDkvWk3TZyMAe4JxgnesjB6xVrIIf2Z37c8hj_tpdZj9A&_hsmi=354890839&utm_content=354890839&utm_source=hs_email