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President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to find ways to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize homeless people with mental illness and addiction for longer periods — an effort to fight what the administration calls “vagrancy” threatening the streets of U.S. cities. An executive order signed Thursday pushes federal agencies to overturn state and federal legal precedent that limits how local and state governments can involuntarily commit people who pose a risk to themselves or others. (Ovalle, 7/24)

The National Institutes of Health and the federal agency responsible for securing the nation’s nuclear weapons were among the victims in a global breach of Microsoft server software over the weekend, according to officials at the agencies. The incident at NIH, which has not been previously reported, involved at least one Microsoft SharePoint server system, said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, and its scope and severity are being investigated. (Nakashima, Menn and Johnson, 7/23)

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to cut hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to roll back federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The Justice Department argued a federal judge in Massachusetts was wrong to block the National Institutes of Health from making $783 million worth of cuts to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities. U.S. District Judge William Young found that the abrupt cancellations ignored long-held government rules and standards. (Whitehurst, 7/24)

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday voted to recommend Dr. Brian Christine for confirmation as HHS assistant secretary for health, a top job at the agency. At HHS, Christine would advise Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as the uniformed public-health service, a group of more than 6,000 doctors, nurses and health professionals overseen by the surgeon general that work inside government agencies. (Levien, 7/24)

The US Department of Agriculture will cut Washington, DC, area jobs by more than 50% and relocate employees to offices across the country in a bid to cut costs. The agency said it expects no more than 2,000 employees in the Washington, DC, area as a result of the agency’s restructuring, down from 4,600 currently, according to a statement on Thursday. (Peng and Hirtzer, 7/24)

Bypassing its standard pathways for scientific discussions, FDA has recently held a slew of so-called "expert panels" that sidestep legal procedures and ethics guardrails, raising concern about cherry-picking of experts and evidence. The panels appear to be a new feature of Trump administration officials, and have no parallel in agency programs from years past, sources said. They're usually moderated by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and FDA principal deputy commissioner Sara Brenner, MD, MPH. (Robertson, 7/24)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen: Some Scientists Speak Out On Deep Cuts To National Cancer Institute, While Others Flee

The National Cancer Institute, long credited with driving down U.S. cancer death rates, is facing massive upheaval as the Trump administration imposes deep funding cuts. Grants have been abruptly terminated, key employees laid off, and essential patient resources left unmaintained. Hundreds of current and former NIH employees have protested through the Bethesda Declaration, warning that these cuts could stall decades of progress in cancer research. (Pradhan, 7/25)