Apologies for the tardiness of this update. On Fridays I wait a bit to see if we get any dramatic after hours announcements. But, on this particular Friday evening, I was otherwise occupied with trick or treating. My kid and I went out dressed up as skeletons, which you all might find humerus…
Today’s updates include some notes on the continuing shutdown, new leadership at the Office of Navel Research, and institutions volunteering to sign the Compact for Excellence in Higher Education.
The government is still shut down. The House will again not be in session next week and the Senate adjourned Thursday and will return on Monday.
The President has began urging congress to remove the filibuster in order to advance legislation without Democrat support. John Thune, the Senate majority leader, appears resistant.
Relevant to the shutdown conversation, a pair of federal judges have ordered the Administration to apply emergency funds to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Rear Admiral Kurt Rothenhaus, formerly the head of the Office of Navel Research (ONR), has been reassigned. Among ONR’s many functions is negotiating with research institutions to set facilities and administrative (F&A) cost rates (i.e. indirect cost rates). The new director of ORI, Rachel Riley, was most recently an adviser for the Department of Government Efficiency within HHS.
Valley Forge Military College [PDF] and Grand Canyon University have joined the New College of Florida in volunteering to sign the Compact of Excellence in Higher Education.
The University of Kansas will not be signing the compact in its current form.
There is some indication that the Administration will update the compact following feedback from interested schools before recirculating it, but there is no word yet about what that may look like.
A senate confirmation hearing for Casey Means, the Administration’s pick for Surgeon General, was delayed this week as Dr. Means went into labor.
Because of the shutdown, there has been very little communication from the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies. But yesterday FDA announced the measures it has taken to protect children from… fluoride.
Not for nothing, but over 15 million children qualify for SNAP benefits in the United States and the subsidies funding that program expired today.
Over 1.5 million children are insured through Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. Continued funding for subsidies for this program is, of course, the ostensible cause of the shutdown.
Nevermind the effects of the massive cuts to medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through the One Big Beautiful Bill.
But yeah sure, fluoride.