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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. enlisted health official Stephanie Haridopolos to temporarily take on some of the responsibilities of the US surgeon general, he said in an email to staff viewed by Bloomberg News. The Trump administration has not had a confirmed surgeon general because two nominees for the role were pulled before confirmation votes in the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated radiologist and former Fox News contributor Nicole Saphier to the role last month. (Nix and Cohrs Zhang, 5/19)

Across the Department of Health and Human Services, top leadership positions are being filled with acting directors. There is no permanent director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or at the Food and Drug Administration. President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general is yet to be confirmed, and HHS’ top spokesperson resigned last week. (Oza, 5/20)

Vice President JD Vance ‘s decision to extend his fight against Medicaid fraud beyond Democratic states to his red home state of Ohio has set off a scramble among the state’s Republicans — including his close ally Vivek Ramaswamy, the party’s nominee for governor. A day before Ramaswamy won the state’s May 5 primary, Vance posted to X that he was directing the anti-fraud task force he leads for President Donald Trump to turn its sights on the Buckeye State. The decision came the same day an investigation by the conservative Daily Wire revealed apparent rampant abuses within Ohio’s Medicaid-funded home health program. (Carr Smyth and Swenson, 5/19)

The Health and Human Services Department is putting pressure on state agencies at the frontlines of the fight against fraud. The HHS Office of Inspector General is auditing every Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as part of its sweeping efforts to crack down on healthcare fraud, Inspector General March Bell wrote to state attorneys general last Wednesday. HHS has threatened to freeze all federal Medicaid funds to states it deems noncompliant. (Early, 5/19)

The Justice Department’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund — created by a legal settlement between President Donald Trump and his own administration — could funnel money to activists who broke into and blocked patients from entering abortion clinics. The text of the settlement and recent statements by DOJ leaders stress that any people who believe they are “victims of lawfare and weaponization” by any presidential administration past or present could be eligible for payouts. (Ollstein, 5/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: �鶹Ů�� Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: Watch: The Tug-Of-War Over Taxpayer Dollars

Julie Rovner, �鶹Ů�� Health News’ chief Washington correspondent and host of the What the Health? podcast, recently spoke with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) about the ongoing fight between President Donald Trump and Congress over control of federal spending. Baldwin, who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said lawmakers have been forced to take unprecedented action to ensure the Trump administration properly spends taxpayer dollars. (Rovner, 5/20)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute' 

Rachel Spears reads the week’s news: The Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding if hospitals don’t get in line with its new dietary rules. Plus, tips to get the most out of prescription drug coupons. (Cook, 5/19)