Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Aftermath Of Hiring Freeze Announcement, Lawmakers Move Swiftly On VA Exemptions
The pressure for exemptions to President Donald Trump鈥檚 federal hiring freeze grew Thursday, led by Republican congressional leaders. The chairmen of the Senate and House veterans committees sent a letter to the White House asking that the president further clarify which jobs聽at the Department of Veterans Affairs are exempt from the order that Mr. Trump signed just days earlier, which suspended hiring throughout the federal government. (Kesling, 1/26)
Three members of New Hampshire's congressional delegation have signed on to a letter to President Trump demanding that he exempt the Department of Veterans Affairs from his executive order freezing federal hiring. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Congresswoman Annie Kuster, all Democrats, say a hiring freeze at the VA will delay veterans鈥 access to health care and resolution of their disability claims. (Biello, 1/26)
Agencies across the federal government are scrambling to handle a chaotic transition of power between two diametrically different leaders. This has led to confusion over what government websites can display, what employees are allowed to do with publicly funded work and growing social-media activism aimed at rebutting President Donald Trump. ... At the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a team of Trump administration appointees who referred to themselves as the 鈥渂eachhead鈥 team, visited the agency Tuesday for briefings with small groups of CMS leadership, according to an HHS official familiar with the proceedings.聽CMS leadership instructed agency directors Tuesday to alert employees of the ban on communications, which includes policy statements and public appearances, social media, blogs and webinars and release of documents, the official said. (Harder and Carlton, 1/27)
The Trump administration on Thursday floated the idea of imposing a 20% tax on imports from Mexico to pay for a wall along the southern border aimed at stopping illegal immigration. Medical distributors and manufacturers source raw materials and finished products from many locations around the world, including Mexico. The U.S. imports more medical, surgical, dental or veterinarian instruments from Mexico than any other country. (Rubenfire, 1/26)
