Editorial note: The Read on Washington is a monthly column on happenings in DC that affect the field of health services research. In addition, AcademyHealth recently began offering ad hoc updates via the Situation Report series. The Situation Report can be found on our blog and is also emailed directly to our members. All of AcademyHealth’s advocacy work is supported by member dues.
Senate Appropriations Committee rejects HHS reorganization in bipartisan vote
The Senate Appropriations Committee released and passed their bipartisan FY26 Labor-HHS funding bill. The bill notably funded the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at $345.38 million, a $23.6 million decrease for the Agency. Despite the significant step back for the Agency in the topline funding, there is a lot of good news in this number. First, it shows that Congress intends for the Agency to remain intact, independent, and with the resources to carry out its mission. Second, this legislation fundamentally rejects the proposed HHS reorganization by funding all existing Agencies as intact.
Notably, the report language in this bill shows significant bipartisan concern about rumors that Secretary Kennedy will purge the USPSTF. It calls for advance notice before any changes in meetings or membership: “The Committee directs AHRQ to provide 48 hours advance notification of any significant developments and public meetings, including meeting cancellations or disbandments, related to the activities of the USPSTF.”
You can find the bill text here, report language here, and a summary of the bill here.
GAO ruled that NIH cancelation of grants was an unlawful impoundment
The Government Accountability Office, which ensures federal compliance with the Impoundment Control Act, found that the cancelation of grants at NIH in 2025 was an unlawful impoundment violation. Unless Congress has enacted a law providing otherwise, executive branch officials must take care to ensure that they prudently obligate appropriations during their period of availability. The violations included the cancelation of grants and ending the publication of grant review meeting notices.
Appeals Court ruling limits impoundment relief to GAO
A federal appeals court ruled that only the Government Accountability Office can sue over the Trump administration’s funding freezes — not people impacted by the funding cuts. The 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit undid a lower court ruling requiring the Trump administration to start spending funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other foreign assistance funds. Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, writing for the majority, said that the 1974 Impoundment Control Act means that only the GAO can sue when the president withholds funds passed by Congress.
Notably, the Impoundment Control Act specifically allows for harmed parties to sue. The law says that, “Nothing contained in this Act, or in any amendments made by this Act, shall be construed as— affecting in any way the claims or defenses of any party to litigation concerning any impoundment.” Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee approved an FY26 funding bill that prohibited GAO from enforcing the Impoundment Control Act, which if passed under this judicial interpretation would prevent any enforcement of impoundments. The Senate Appropriations Committee did not include this provision, setting up a conflict. This case is expected to be appealed.
AHRQ “Functionally Incapacitated” by Layoffs
STAT News reported that AHRQ, as the federal agency that studies how to improve the health care system, has been rendered functionally “incapacitated” after much of its staff was laid off or retired. The loss of staff have left it unable to distribute, manage, and support its grantmaking process or seat panels of experts. According to AcademyHealth analysis of a publicly available federal grants database, AHRQ has not approved any new grants since April 1, compared with nearly $6 million in new awards during the same period last year. We also found that just $23 million in continuing grants have been awarded this year since April 1, versus more than $50 million in the same period of 2024.
Draft proposal shows NIH moving to prohibit data gathering about gender
The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting on a draft NIH policy they received that would prohibit scientists from collecting data about gender as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to end research that does not fit their binary gender theory. The policy states that researchers inside and outside of the agency “shall not use NIH funds to request, collect, or disseminate information related to gender.”
Other nations interested in investing in vaccine development as distrust in US grows
According to Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering, which invests in and creates new biotech companies, there are at least a dozen countries that are interested in developing their own vaccines because they’re losing confidence that the US government will have immunizations ready for the next pandemic. Secretary Kennedy canceling over $500 million in mRNA vaccine research funding has led to a potential decline in the ability of other nations to rely on US innovation, and they are looking for ways to build the infrastructure and capabilities in their own nations.
More than 20 Republican Attorneys General demand FDA revoke mifepristone
A group of over 20 GOP state attorneys general sent a letter to the FDA and asked it to consider withdrawing mifepristone from the market if the agency is unable to reinstate in-person prescribing protocols and eliminate telehealth authorization. This letter is in light of a controversial, non-peer-reviewed study that anti-abortion advocates allege shows the abortion drug isn’t safe. Mifepristone, which is taken with another drug called misoprostol to end an early pregnancy, was first approved by the FDA in 2000 after "a thorough and comprehensive review" found it was safe and effective, according to the agency's website, which noted that periodic reviews since its approval have not identified new safety concerns.
HHS reinstating disbanded childhood vaccine panel
HHS announced that it was reinstating the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines - which was disbanded in 1998 - "to improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children". The reinstatement of the panel comes after the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that Secretary Kennedy founded, funded a lawsuit against his administration in May for failing to re-establish the task force. It is the latest move from Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to scrutinize the US childhood vaccine schedule.
Data analysts sound alarm on losing credibility of federal statistics
President Donald Trump is ramping up his attacks on the vast network of government data collection, leaving some statisticians and demographers worried the president is undermining the short- and long-term credibility of federal data. He announced his intention for a mid-decade census less than a week after he fired Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer following the release of a jobs report that painted an unfavorable picture of the economy. Employees at federal statistical agencies are reporting pressure to politicize their work.
What we’re reading
Black patients disproportionately report feeling disbelieved or having concerns dismissed in medical encounters, suggesting potential racial bias in clinicians’ assessment of patient credibility. Beach et al wrote in PLOS One about racial bias in electronic health records by looking for words that cast doubt on a patient’s competency and credibility, like “unreliable” or “inconsistent”. They found that Black patients had a 29 percent higher likelihood of having those words, which would show evidence of exacerbating health disparities.
Dr. Vani Pariyadath wrote about her decision to resign from NIH in Nature, citing the destruction of health equity research. She discussed how NIH staff have had to work with grantees to align their research with the administration’s ideological agenda, which often meant removing or changing the project’s goals and terminology. She found this process to be in violation of scientific and ethical principles, and resigned.
KFF released an analysis of the rural health fund that congressional Republicans added to their reconciliation bill before passage to soften the harm rural health systems are expected to face from it. Based on the statutory language, it is not yet clear what specific criteria the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will ultimately use to approve or deny state applications and distribute funds across states; what share of the $50 billion fund will go to rural areas; what share will go to the nearly 1,800 hospitals in rural areas or be used for other providers or purposes; whether funds will be targeted to certain types of rural hospitals, such as the 44% of rural hospitals with negative margins; and to what extent the CMS Administrator will be able to influence how states use their funds prior to approving an application. Further, the law does not require CMS to publish information about the distribution of funds so that the allocation decisions are transparent.