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Hi NIH Vigilers and 27 UNIHTED Community,
We are excited to welcome the new members of the House and Senate with significant scientific and medical expertise:
Annie Andrews (South Carolina, Senate)
Mitchell Berman (Wisconsin, House)
Daniel Biss (Illinois, House)
Christina Bohannan (Iowa, House)
Jasmine Clark (Georgia, House)
Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan, Senate)
Adam Hamaway (New Jersey, House)
Jacqui Irwin (California, House)
Elaine Luria (Virginia, House)
Richard Pan (California, House)
We also congratulate Dr. Amy Acton as Ohio’s first elected female governor.
What do these new lawmakers have on their plate? Well, here is what is on our minds.
Vigil “Auntie” News
-The Good-
Newly elected members could have positive impact on health policy
Many doctors, scientists, and other health professionals were elected in the midterms, brightening the outlook for science. The election has worsened the already crumbling relationship between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and President Trump. Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocates claim Trump lost the midterms because he did not move fast enough on cancer-causing pesticides and opposition to vaccines, while science advocates claim the Democratic resurgence was due to opposition to MAHA and other anti-science forces. Democrats are calling on RFK Jr. to “resign or be fired” (that is, be impeached; some say they want “his head on a platter.”) Meanwhile, RFK Jr. has been spending a lot of time in Iowa, and some speculate he may be running for President in 2028. If he remains the HHS Secretary, RFK Jr. could face either El-Sayed or Andrews when testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. In addition, the new Democrat-controlled Congress could pass the Scientific Integrity Act, which protects science from political interference. Trump’s war on science may fail once the new Congress is sworn in in January. “If the blue wave continues to ride, that could be a pretty seismic shift in the way that things go for science,” Kenneth Evans of Rice University told Nature magazine.
House Science Committee goals and priorities
An article in Science magazine outlines a possible science agenda for the new legislature. It focuses on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, which oversees such government agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Zoe Lofgren (California) is a 30-year veteran of Congress and is expected to chair the committee. A first-time Congresswoman just elected from Georgia, microbiologist Jasmine Clark, hopes to join Lofgren on the committee. Lofgren says that “my top priority is to help the US science enterprise recover from the blows it’s received from the Trump administration and also get some wins for the American people when it comes to legislation that never was approved.” To avoid the Trump Administration subverting or ignoring Congress’s wishes, Lofgren thinks Congressional committees need to be “more prescriptive in both authorizations and appropriations, so that the opportunity to hijack the legislation is diminished.” Clark says that “as Democrats we need to be able to show people, show the science community, and show the public health community that we prioritize health and research.”
More good news:
NIH's Center for Scientific Review (CSR) has voted to unionize. This effort, born of efforts started in January 2025, is galvanizing renewed union organizing across NIH. We look forward to seeing more Institutes and Centers initiate the process to join AFGE L2419.
A new article published in JAMA Pediatrics supports the recommendation of the mRNA COVID vaccine for pregnant women.
The continuing resolution currently funding the government includes a pause on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plan to exert veto power over government grants. The resolution expires in about one month, on December 11. Science organizations are mobilizing to more permanently block the OMB proposal.
After a flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base, the military is again requiring flu shots for new recruits. This shift in policy reverses Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth’s decision in April to make the vaccine optional. During basic training recruits live in packed quarters, shower communally, and are often stressed and exhausted, making them particularly susceptible to the flu.
NIH scientist Jeanne Marrazzo’s lawsuit against RFK Jr. will continue after a federal judge refused the government’s request to dismiss the suit. Marrazzo raised concerns about politically motivated cancellations of grants and clinical trials.
NSF grantees and scientific societies are suing NSF to retain the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, a branch targeted by the Trump administration for elimination.
-The Bad-
Lancet Countdown notes climate change threats to health
Every year the Lancet Countdown assesses the effects of climate change on health worldwide. The report notes that between 2016 and 2023, heat was associated with over half a million deaths each year, two thirds of which could be attributed to human-caused climate change. More frequent heatwaves and droughts are threatening food security, and are increasing the suitability of the climate for some viruses. Fossil fuels still supply four fifths of the world’s energy supply. Since 2016, these fuels have caused over two million deaths annually from fuel-derived air pollution. The report concludes that “a decade after the Paris Agreement entered into force, this report shows that action remains grossly insufficient to avoid the growing impacts of climate change on health, and that the health opportunities of climate change interventions remain largely undelivered.” Climate change is not just a long-term environmental problem, it is an urgent health issue right now.
More bad news:
We all had high hopes in August when Erica Schwartz took over as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but reviews of her performance are not so great. This week Jeremy Faust wrote about Schwartz in his personal Substack Inside Medicine, pointing out that measles counts are inaccurate and there are no statements refuting a link between vaccines and autism. Faust concludes that “nowadays, when the CDC issues a statement, we never know which CDC we are hearing from. Depending on the day or the issue, it could be solid science or snake oil.”
Measles outbreaks continue to spread, with recent measles deaths in Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin. The number of cases throughout the US this year is now over 5,000, more than twice last year’s total. A commission of the Pan American Health Organization will meet November 10–13 to review whether the US will lose its measles elimination status, which it has held for more than 25 years.
-The Ugly-
“There is a mental health crisis for HHS feds right now, both those still inside government and those who've been displaced. And for those inside government, it's quite severe.” - Jonathan White in Government Executive article, HHS employees face another painful loss amid a year of workplace trauma
A Public Health Service officer working at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) died by suicide in the agency's headquarters. 27 UNIHTED and the entire Vigil Auntie community honors a dedicated public health servant and sends our condolences to family, friends, and colleagues touched by this tragedy. While there is no way to know the cause of the suicide, it brings renewed grief and concern among employees across HHS who have faced a stressful workplace environment marked by policy shifts, budget and grant disruptions, and mass layoffs.
Trump family profits from questionable contracts for Ebola screening
Propublica reports that nearly $20M in contracts were given to a small firm, XpresTest, shortly after Trump’s sons invested in its parent company, XWELL. This contract is to screen for Ebola to control the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and help prevent it from spreading further. While the company has provided screening for COVID at US airports, its primary concern is airport spa treatments and massages. Neither XpresTest or XWELL have experience with Ebola or with screening at any international airports, let alone ones in Africa. Ezra Ernst, the CEO of XWELL, admits that working internationally is a new and risky undertaking and is quoted in the article as saying “I’m not sure we can do it.”
More ugly news:
Stephen Miller has been elevated to White House chief of staff. Miller, the architect of ICE’s mass deportation and detention camps, is likely to shift the administration policy agenda further to the extreme right.
Resignations, controversy, boycotts and questions continue about the American Diabetes Association and their handling of dissent at a meeting last year. Their journal, Diabetes Care, is currently on hiatus after editors resigned “citing worries about editorial independence and scientific integrity.”
Leadership Watch
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, the Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) since 1993, will retire in December. NIA Acting Deputy Director Kenneth Santora will serve as Acting NIA Director during a search for a new leader.
Calls to Action
Impeach Vought campaign has more than 4,640 signatures! Add your name to the movement! www.impeachvought.com/
Support 27 UNIHTED. Former NIHers and HHS staff need your support. Take action and volunteer: https://www.27unihted.org/takeaction
Upcoming Events
27 UNIHTED and FDA Alumni Association are hosting a free networking panel on November 12, starting at 6:30 pm ET at United States Pharmacopeia. Register here.
#DefendResearch webinar, “Building the Future of Science now,” November 17, 11:00 am ET. 27 UNIHTED’s Anna Culbertson joins Vani Pariyadath (former NIDA) and #DefendResearch’s Lisa Schiff on lessons from 20 months of resisting harmful policy changes at NIH. Register here.
27 UNIHTED / NIH community events
Weekly NIH Vigil every Saturday at 10:00 am ET.
Weekly peer empowerment call every Thursday at 6:00 pm ET.
Wellness Weekly
Serious Wellness Update:
We wanted to share an extremely important resource for our community. Therapy4Feds, we.therapy4feds.org is an organization that offers low cost and pro-bono therapy assistance for former federal employees. There has been a loss within the HHS community at SAMHSA, and we wanted to share this incredible resource for former feds who may be struggling. Please don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it.
Our somewhat serious community recommendations for self-care are:
Lift weights.
Go birdwatching (or just play Wingspan - IYKYK).
Outside, you shall wander.
In solidarity,
27 UNIHTED and NIH Vigils