After four years at POLITICO I'm making some moves: I'm joining @chrissyfarr.bsky.social 's Second Opinion Media, to bring more tech policy coverage, analysis, and scoops to the great work she is already doing there AND I'll be taking on some long term projects @truth.bsky.social Send tips!

NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Some Democrats see an opening to win over MAHA voters ahead of November as the movement's frustrations with the Trump administration reach a breaking point www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Sat down with Patrick Kennedy to talk about his alliance with cousin RFK Jr. to address mental health www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Last night some 60 health systems wrote a letter to the CEO of the Sequoia Project, a nonprofit that influences governance for two large health data sharing networks, asking for concrete actions to counter fraud. A copy was sent to ONC leadership subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

Very curious what people think about this Epic lawsuit.

This morning, Epic filed a lawsuit against Health Gorilla, a platform that connects health institutions with health data, along with several smaller telehealth companies, for fraudulently accessing patient data. t.co/xfYKPMnhOy

The government's latest nutrition advice recommends eating more protein, less added sugar, beef tallow and more whole foods -- meshing long-standing nutrition advice with #MAHA goals. For @politico.com with @ruthreader.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Small states and states that adopt policies favored by the Trump admin (such as restrictions on SNAP) got a much bigger windfall from the fund Congress created to "transform" rural health care. Alaska received more than California, which has 40x its population.

The Trump admin offered states a deal: Want more $ for rural health care? Pass pro-MAHA laws. “They’re holding our rural health as a hostage, essentially, for these broader policy goals," one Arizona lawmaker told me. www.politico.com/news/2025/12... with the great @ruthreader.bsky.social

In DFD today: Some parents are concerned that schools have become over digitized t.co/Au4BFrOvvU

ICE is telling Dem lawmakers they can’t visit detention centers during the shutdown — citing no money or staff to support visits, says our @kyledcheney.bsky.social.
 Read the exclusive story on how the Trump administration is using the shutdown to limit oversight: ow.ly/fL0b50XjLWv

Our analysis shows the U.S. generally performs worse in long-term health outcomes (like life expectancy), certain treatment outcomes (like maternal mortality), some patient safety measures, and health system capacity: https://on.kff.org/42I5t4R

NEW: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said earlier this month that ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users. The company’s estimates therefore suggest that every seven days, around 560,000 people may be exchanging messages with ChatGPT that indicate they are experiencing mania or psychosis.

It's time

NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Nearly as many migrants have died in custody so far this year than over the 4 yrs of the Biden admin. ICE is hiring dozens more medical workers, but former insiders are skeptical the deaths will stop w/o more fundamental reforms. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Politico Future Pulse: Inside the NIH whistleblower complaints Erin Schumaker spoke with Debra Katz, legal counsel for Drs. Marrazzo and Neuzil politi.co/3JUSWEw @erinlschumaker.bsky.social‬ @ruthreader.bsky.social

TODAY: PEN Guild heads to arbitration over POLITICO’s contract-breaking use of AI. This fight could set the standard for how AI is used in newsrooms across the country. ✍️ Sign our petition and help us go into arbitration with full support: bit.ly/PENGuild

The speed with which I clicked on this headline 🏃🏃🏃 www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Thomas Keane is the new assistant secretary for technology policy subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

We're proud our AI agreement has safeguards for journalists jobs-and company ethics, to allow AI use in a way that works for us, not against us. @politico.com already agreed that AI-generated content should be subject to the same standards as human-written articles. It needs to follow the contract

Popping in from vacation for a scoop: Less than four years out of high school, Peter Bowman-Davis is the acting chief AI officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. The Yale undergrad was recently a fellow at Andreessen Horowitz subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

If you subscribed to POLITICO you would have gotten this news yesterday

Rumors, group chats, clandestine spreadsheets: how health agency workers are struggling to take stock of this week's mass purge by RFK Jr. amid an information blackout www.politico.com/news/2025/04... with @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social @ruthreader.bsky.social

NEW w/ @ruthreader.bsky.social : HHS is eliminating offices that work on minority health, HIV and STIs. HIV experts called it a "decimation" that will cost the government much more over time than any short-term savings. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Yes! HHS seems to be moving to rehire probationary workers that were fired in February, complying with a court order issued last week. So far, staff at NIH, CMS, FDA, and ONC have received emails to this effect.

Noting a couple of scoops here that have been published behind the paywall recently: Since Trump has taken office, his administration has quickly tried to unwind the Biden administration's work regulating AI in health care.

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...

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would ban kids under 13 from social platforms. Expect more online safety bills to come before this committee...

There is a new lawsuit against Character.ai, alleging the platform caused two users under the age of 18 mental health harm and promoted self harm. This is the second lawsuit against Character.ai and part of a larger wave of social platform product liability lawsuits.

Today advocates for a kids online safety bill will be on the hill, demonstrating, and meeting with members of Congress in a very late push to get their bill passed in an end of year spending package.

More support for KOSA from the Trump camp

In a new push to get the Kids Online Safety Act passed, Sen. Blackburn is putting forward an updated bill with input from X CEO Linda Yaccarino to address concerns the bill infringes on free speech. Elon Musk also appears to support the bill.

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...

Have a question for the docs and health care ppl on this platform: Everyone says that precision medicine is the future, but will insurance support it? My understanding is that insurance tends to approve treatments that work for the majority.

Didja read about the study that claimed ChatGPT produced poetry “indistinguishable” from Shakespeare? Critique by NYU’s Ernest Davis, on the unbearable banality of ChatGPT’s poetry: https://cs.nyu.edu/~davise/papers/GPT-Poetry.pdf

Scoop: 32 Attorneys General, led by Tennessee's Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to Congress calling on members to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...