Blog | 8/15/2025

Trump Administration Healthcare News: August 15, 2025

Health Advances weekly healthcare tracker focused on top level government administration news.

NOTE: All words/analysis are those from the source noted, opinions are those of the original authors and not reflective of Health Advances in general nor any individual. All sources are non-confidential and in the public domain (but some may be behind paywalls).

This issue reflects news as of 11 AM on August 14, 2025. The details and broad themes may have changed.

KEY HEALTH NEWS (GLOBAL)

US appeals court lets Trump cut billions in foreign aid

  • A federal appeals court on Wednesday lifted an injunction that required the U.S. State Department to continue making foreign aid payments, handing a victory to President Donald Trump.
  • In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said a lower court erred by ordering the Trump administration to restore foreign assistance payments previously approved by Congress.
  • Trump imposed a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on January 20, the same day he was inaugurated for a second term in the White House. His executive order was followed by aggressive moves to gut USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid agency, including by placing much of its staff on leave and exploring bringing the formerly independent agency under the State Department.
  • Two nonprofit groups that receive federal funding, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network, brought litigation alleging Trump's funding freeze was unlawful.
  • U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ordered the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in outstanding aid to its humanitarian partners worldwide.
  • Writing for the two-judge majority, Circuit Judge Karen Henderson said the nonprofit groups "lack a cause of action to press their claims" and therefore failed to satisfy the requirements for an injunction.
  • Henderson wrote that only the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, could challenge the president’s efforts to withhold foreign aid funding.
  • https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-appeals-court-lets-trump-cut-billions-foreign-aid-2025-08-13/

Other Nations Move Toward Making Their Own Vaccines as US Cuts Funding

  • At least a dozen countries are interested in developing their own vaccines because they’re losing confidence that the US government will have immunizations ready for the next pandemic, a top biotech investor said.
  • Other nations have largely depended on the US to make shots that are deployed globally. The Covid-19 vaccines, developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and embraced by the US government, were used by tens of millions of people around the world.
  • But under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US government has ended contracts to make vaccines using new technology. And now, countries aren’t sure they can count on the US in the next pandemic, said Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering, which invests in and creates new biotech companies.
  • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-12/other-nations-want-to-make-their-own-vaccines-as-us-pulls-back  (subscription required for full text)

KEY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEWS

Prasad returns to FDA, resuming head of CBER role

  • A spokesperson for HHS said that “at FDA’s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.”
  • “Neither the White House nor HHS will allow the fake news media to distract from the critical work the FDA is carrying out under the Trump administration,” the spokesperson said.
  • Prasad left less than two weeks ago, following a flurry of stringent regulatory decisions and political upheaval that forced him to depart. Conservatives and hard-line MAGA supporters like Laura Loomer criticized him for prior social media posts supporting Democrats. The Wall Street Journal also wrote a string of op-eds saying that his tough stance on drug applications would stifle innovation.
  • FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said earlier this week that Prasad was not pushed out of his role but had chosen to resign instead. Makary said he had been encouraging him to come back.
  • https://endpoints.news/vinay-prasad-is-back-at-fda/   (subscription required for full text)

Second MAHA report’s release delayed

  • The anticipated release of the second report by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission has been delayed as the White House says scheduling will take some time.
  • The second MAHA report was expected to be released this week, but the White House said the paper would be submitted by its Aug. 12 deadline, with some scheduling still needing to be coordinated.
  • “Following a robust interagency process involving extensive stakeholder feedback, the MAHA Commission is on track to submit its Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy report to the President on August 12th,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
  • “The report will be unveiled to the public shortly thereafter as we coordinate the schedules of the President and the various cabinet members who are a part of the Commission,” Desai said.
  • https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5448177-second-maha-reports-release-delayed/        

Trump executive order seeks to centralize control of grantmaking under political appointees

  • A sweeping new executive order seeks to transform how the federal government awards billions of dollars in research grants by giving President Trump’s political appointees unprecedented power over the projects agencies fund. 
  • The order issued Thursday night, titled “Improving Oversight Of Federal Grantmaking,” aims to fundamentally rewrite the rules that for decades have guided grant decisions. Instead of experts and career civil servants setting funding decisions and priorities, the order places that authority with presidential appointees who, in coordination with the White House, are directed to use their “independent judgment” and “advance the President’s policy priorities.”
  • The executive power grab, which experts expect to be challenged in court, is likely to have massive and immediate impacts on the daily operations of American science.
  • https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/08/trump-executive-order-disrupts-science-lawsuits-expected/   (subscription required for full text)

NIH backs away from mRNA research, claiming lack of public trust

  • The NIH will step back from funding mRNA research, claiming that too many people don’t trust the technology platform, the director said in a new editorial.
  • The move by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya piggy-backs on last week’s announcement by HHS that it would cut funding for two dozen contracts involving mRNA vaccines. In a Washington Post editorial Tuesday, Bhattacharya said the NIH would also pivot away from the technology.
  • His reasoning focused on what he claimed is lack of public trust in the technology, citing a 2024 Pew study indicating that the majority of Americans didn’t plan to get an updated Covid-19 vaccine. Those survey results diverge sharply by party affiliation, and less so by age group, with Democrats and older people more likely to say they plan to get the shots.
  • Analysis: https://endpoints.news/nih-backs-away-from-mrna-research-claiming-lack-of-public-trust/   (subscription required for full text)
  • Bhattacharya editorial: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/12/nih-mrna-vaccines-jay-bhattacharya/

ARPA-H data chief departs over disagreement with mRNA vaccine rollback

  • After the Department of Health and Human Services canceled about $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, one senior agency leader has decided to call it quits. Alastair Thomson is resigning as chief data officer at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), according to his Aug. 10 LinkedIn announcement that has since been deleted.
  • The data chief attributed his departure, which he confirmed to Fierce is planned for Aug. 22, directly to the Aug. 5 announcement that HHS was terminating 22 contracts for work developing new mRNA vaccines designed to combat infectious diseases like influenza and COVID-19.
  • HHS declined to comment on Thomson’s departure.
  • https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/arpa-h-data-chief-departs-agency-over-disagreement-mrna-vaccine-contract-cancellations

HHS official tasked with MAHA relations fired amid hasty rollout of mRNA contract cuts

  • Gray Delany, head of MAHA implementation at HHS and an ally of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been fired from his government role, according to a source familiar with the decision.
  • Delany was fired soon after Secretary Kennedy’s announcement Tuesday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, was cutting 22 contracts with mRNA vaccine makers.
  • The person described Delany’s firing as driven by disagreement between Delany and other top HHS officials over how major policy announcements are rolled out.
  • A spokesperson for HHS confirmed Delany’s departure in a statement and declined to comment further on why he was removed.
  • https://endpoints.news/hhs-official-tasked-with-maha-relations-fired-following-mrna-cuts/   (subscription required for full text)

Staff cuts are undermining federal research on how to make health care better

  • A small federal agency that studies how to improve the health care system has been rendered functionally “incapacitated” after much of its staff was laid off or retired, according to three people, including two former employees, who spoke with STAT.
  • The loss of most of the workers at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has left it unable to distribute grants or support a panel of outside experts that advises on preventive medical services, the people said.
  • “None of the other science agencies in HHS — NIH, FDA, nor CDC — focus on actually improving the quality of care that Americans can receive,” Robert Otto Valdez, who directed the agency through January, told STAT via email. “That has been AHRQ’s scientific focus.”

KEY REVERSALS – RESCINDED ITEMS

Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking HHS From Illegally Sharing Personal Healthcare Data

KEY LAWSUITS

Trump Administration Litigation Tracker

KEY BIOPHARMA NEWS

Trump orders stockpiling of advanced drug ingredients

  • President Trump on Wednesday ordered his health officials to secure a six-month supply of advanced pharmaceutical ingredients for drugs the administration determines are critical for national health and security.
  • Why it matters: The move continues efforts started during the Biden administration to reshore the medical supply chain and reduce the reliance on overseas manufacturers, especially China.
  • The government has already directed millions of dollars toward developing domestic sources for key ingredients used in treatments for asthma, diabetes and anxiety.
  • Driving the news: Trump's new executive order directs the assistant secretary of health for preparedness and response, or ASPR, to develop a list of about 26 drugs deemed vital to national health and security.
  • The ASPR would obtain a six-month supply of advanced pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, to be placed in a strategic reserve, with a preference for domestically manufactured products.
  • The administration also plans to update a 2022 list of 86 essential medicines and propose a plan to obtain and store a six-month supply of APIs for those drugs.
  • That list contained blood thinners, anticonvulsants, cardiovascular drugs and antivirals.
  • Analysis: https://www.axios.com/2025/08/14/trump-drug-ingredient-order-strategic-reserve
  • White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/08/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-ensures-american-pharmaceutical-supply-chain-resilience-by-filling-the-strategic-active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-reserve/

KEY DIAGNOSTICS – LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH NEWS

FDA Ends Effort To Regulate LDTs By Rescinding Final Rule

KEY ACRONYMS

  • ACA = Affordable Care Act
  • ARPA-H = Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
  • ASPR = Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response
  • BARDA = Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
  • CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • CBER = Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
  • CDER = Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
  • CMS = Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • DHS = Department of Homeland Security
  • FDA = Food and Drug Administration
  • HHS = Department of Health and Human Services
  • MAGA = Make American Great Again
  • MAHA = Make America Healthy Again
  • NIH = National Institutes of Health
  • OIRA = Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
  • USAID = U.S. Agency for International Development

Share this: