GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy once hoped to ally with RFK Jr to restore trust in public health. But 7 months in, their relationship is at a breaking point over vaccines—and now Cassidy is risking his political future for a hearing that could further damage RFK’s credibility: www.cnn.com/2025/09/17/p...

The White House is already ruling out key Dem demands to reverse health cuts in its OBBB or constrain Trump’s ability to do rescissions in exchange for funding the govt. The hardline stance effectively dares Dems to fold on negotiations or shutter the govt w/in weeks www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/p...

New: Fed Chair Jerome Powell has told allies and associates there’s no chance he bows to Trump’s calls for him to resign, arguing in private conversations that his survival is inextricably linked to the central bank’s ability to maintain its independence. www.cnn.com/2025/07/25/p...

Big shakeup at HHS, our new colleague @adamcancryn.bsky.social reports - RFK Jr fires chief of staff Heather Flick Melanson and deputy chief of staff for policy Hannah Anderson. Melanson had worked in first Trump admin Kennedy "lost confidence in them," sources say www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/h...

Super excited to be joining CNN and its ultra-talented White House team! At a moment where rigorous, fair and ambitious reporting on our politics is more critical than ever, there’s no better place to do it than at CNN. I can’t wait to get started. cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/07/01/a...

Some Friday night news of my own: After 8 years, today was my last day at POLITICO. More soon on what’s next, but! Very grateful to have worked in such a special newsroom, and alongside such talented and generous reporters and editors—especially my incredible WH team colleagues.

It’s Tuesday with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @adamcancryn.bsky.social ☕️ @nancyayoussef.bsky.social 🌞 @errinhaines.bsky.social 🌅 @andrewdesiderio.bsky.social Slept in yesterday & getting back into the groove today? I get it. Email why you’re up early to [email protected]. #waytooearly

News: Trump is planning to revive his “most favored nation” plan to slash Medicare drug prices, signing an EO next week ordering another attempt at tying payments for some medicines to cheaper prices abroad. www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

We made it to another Friday with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @adamcancryn.bsky.social ☕️ @daveweigel.bsky.social 🌞 Matt Gorman 🫖 @mondairejones.bsky.social 🌅 Sarah Fitzpatrick Are you awake with this crew? Tell us why! Email [email protected] #waytooearly

New: Trump’s trade war is tanking his polling and alarming allies who worry he’s squandering the mandate handed to him just 100 days ago. Once fueled by voter nostalgia for his first-term economy, most now say his economic agenda is going to”too far.” www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

RFK Jr. is wading into policy well beyond the traditional purview of his department. The White House is thrilled about it. “Midterm success, in a large way, depends on MAHA success,” said one Trump adviser. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

News: RFK Jr. is weighing pulling the Covid vaccine from the CDC's list of recommended immunizations for children, per two ppl familiar. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Happy Monday— kick off the week with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @adamcancryn.bsky.social ☕️ @mpolymer1.bsky.social 🌞 @lawofruby.bsky.social 🌅 Cheyanne Daniels Starting your week up early? Tell us why, here or email [email protected]. #waytooearly

New: The FDA is asking fired workers to temporarily return to the office responsible for penalizing stores for selling tobacco to minors, after RFK Jr.'s mass firings gutted it and crippled the agency's ability to enforce the law. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

NEW: Everyone knew RFK Jr. wanted to upend the health care system. They didn’t think he’d go this far, this fast. Now HHS employees, industry execs, public health officials and Trump aides are grappling with the repercussions. A 360 view of the fallout: www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

News: HHS has no plans to rehire 20 percent of the employees it fired earlier this week, despite RFK Jr.'s assertion yesterday that doing so was "always the plan." "No such plan is in the works," a person familiar w/ the department's planning tells me. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Welcome to Tuesday, with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @adamcancryn.bsky.social ☕️ Mica Soellner 🌞 @nathanbomey.bsky.social 🌅 @sykescharlie.bsky.social If you’re up — like Sen. @CoryBooker still is, speaking on the Senate floor — tell us why, on here or email [email protected]. #WayTooEarly

New FDA Commissioner Marty Makary signed off on ousting top vaccine official Peter Marks soon after being secretly sworn in as agency head. Makary and RFK Jr. jointly agreed to push him out — and more leadership changes are likely on deck. w/ @davidlim.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

And we’re back to Monday with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @nancyayoussef.bsky.social ☕️ Kevin Frey 🌞 Ben Kamisar 🌅 @adamcancryn.bsky.social Starting your week up early? Tell us why, here or email [email protected]. #waytooearly

The Trump admin is ousting NIH chief of staff John Burklow, a nearly 40-year agency vet. Seana Cranston, a former top aide to Rep. Thomas Massie, is likely to replace him—departing from the tradition of having careers fill the role. W/ @erinlschumaker.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

RFK Jr. will meet Monday with top execs of several major food brands—his first sitdown with companies he’s accused of contributing to the “poisoning” of Americans. Details on the high-stakes summit w/ @marciabrown.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

HHS Sec RFK Jr.’s first major health crisis? A measles outbreak. But while his aides worked to track and contain the outbreak this weekend, Kennedy was hiking in CA. Inside the frustration at HHS and beyond w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social & Sophie Gardner www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

New: As HHS officials worked overtime to aid Texas’ measles response on Sunday, RFK Jr. was in Coachella, Instagramming his hike. It was the latest messaging mishap to fuel dismay in HHS and growing scrutiny of RFK’s handling of his first major health crisis. www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

UPDATE: Corry resigned after clashing with RFK Jr. and his close aides over their management of HHS amid the growing measles outbreak, two people familiar with the matter tell me. www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

News: RFK Jr’s top spokesperson at HHS just abruptly quit, after only two weeks on the job www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Mass firings, abrupt policy shifts and simmering tensions: Inside RFK Jr’s health department hostile takeover, w @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social @ruthreader.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

NEW: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is preparing to remove members of key outside committees that advise the government on vaccine approvals and recommendations. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social + @gardnerlm19.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Good morning, it’s Tuesday with @waytooearly.bsky.social: ☀️ @mpolymer1.bsky.social ☕️ @barbmcquade.bsky.social 🌞 @adamcancryn.bsky.social 🌅 @jonallendc.bsky.social If you’re up, we want to know why— and it might end up on the show. Email [email protected]. #waytooearly

And here's a non-paywalled link: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

A callout on RFK Jr’s confirmation day: I’ll be spending the coming months (years?) writing about how Trump and RFK transform health care — and the health workforce — in DC and across the nation. If you work for, with, or against RFK, I want to hear from you. Reach out confidentially:

NIH put its name on an abrupt decision to cut support for biomedical research—but it was Elon Musk’s DOGE team that ordered the new policy: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

The two “senior agency veterans” tasked with monitoring DOGE at the agency that manages Medicare and Medicaid are Trump political appointees Kim Brandt and John Brooks, rather than career CMS officials, per internal emails www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

The @waytooearly.bsky.social lineup to end your week: Aaron Gilchrist is live from DCA with the latest on the tragic crash, plus @adamcancryn.bsky.social, Sabrina Singh, Carlos Curbelo, Greg Feith, & Kevin Frey.

New: The head of the antivaxx group that RFK Jr. founded told me she sees vindication in his Health Secretary nomination—and hopes he makes all vaccines optional, including for measles, mumps and rubella www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

News: In a private meeting with Senate Finance staff, RFK Jr. expressed openness to progressive proposals for using march-in rights and compulsory licensing to lower drug prices w @sophiacai.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

Even some RFK Jr. advisers are sounding the alarm on how aggressively Trump’s health nominee may target vaccines. New reporting on the policy options under discussion, and fears about the antivax movement’s influence on RFK’s agenda: www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

Joe Biden’s term is ending where it began: with Donald Trump. A deep look at the vexing final days of a Biden presidency that once invited comparisons to FDR—yet now even some supporters say most closely mirrors Jimmy Carter www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

Scoop: RFK Jr’s chief of staff at the health department expected to be Heather Flick, a lawyer and Trump 1.0 HHS alum. The pick signals an effort to put aides with more traditional experience (and political backgrounds) around Kennedy W @davidlim.bsky.social: www.politico.com/live-updates...

If there was any doubt, this govt funding saga makes clear: Biden may still run the country, but Trump—and increasingly Musk—are the captains now. While Rs blew up and try to reassemble a CR deal, Biden spent last two days in Delaware staying totally hands-off www.politico.com/news/2024/12...

SCOOP: John Brooks is leading President-elect Donald Trump's HHS landing team. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...

New detail on Biden’s clemency for the judge involved in the Pa. “kids-for-cash” scandal: The WH never considered the specifics of his actions, per an admin official. Michael Conahan just met the broader criteria the WH established for commutation, so he got one. www.politico.com/news/2024/12...

“Biden believed his son had done the hard work of turning his life around. He worried that another prolonged period of attacks and investigations could jeopardize that recovery. And for two more months, he was in the unique position to make it all go away. So he did” www.politico.com/news/2024/12...

RFK Jr wanted a close ally willing to radically overhaul food policy. Conservative ag groups wanted a more traditional rural Trump ally. Instead, Trump picked… Brooke Rollins. How the Agriculture Dept became ground zero for early MAGA v. MAHA tensions: www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

I need to make sure everyone sees the Wayans family dancing to Kendrick.

News: Jim O'Neill is being weighed by Trump for HHS deputy secretary per 3 people familiar with the talks. He has advocated for people to be able to take drugs once safety, but not effectiveness, is reviewed by the FDA. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social + Lauren Gardner: www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

NEW w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social: At least 3 antivax activists are helping RFK Jr. recruit and vet candidates for top jobs at HHS. While the Trump transition argues they're not part of the official process, they're calling themselves the 'MAHA transition team.' www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

News: Senior Trump officials rejected an effort to install Project 2025 author ROGER SEVERINO as RFK Jr’s deputy health secretary. The push failed over concerns Severino’s strident anti-abortion views would prove too controversial. www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

The Trump transition is closing in on a number of names for top health posts across HHS. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

News: The Trump transition is accelerating efforts to fill key health jobs like FDA commissioner and CDC director, eying a group of close RFK allies and public health contrarians. Here’s the shortlist, incl Joseph Ladapo, the Means siblings and Marty Makary: www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

News: Biden admin planning to impose additional sanctions on Russia, including potentially targeting its lucrative energy sector. Is among the few options Biden has left to strengthen Ukraine and salvage his broader legacy before Trump takes over: www.politico.com/news/2024/11...