A week after the announcement of the reorganization and staff cuts ordered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the scope of the reductions is only starting to crystallize. Across such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and FDA, entire divisions have been wiped out, and it is unclear who will be left to enforce hundreds of laws and regulate millions of products. Meanwhile, legislators in a growing number of states are introducing abortion bans that would punish women as well as abortion providers.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this enormous breaking story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown Law School professor Stephen Vladeck about the limits of presidential power.

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read (or wrote) this week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “Why the Right Still Embraces Ivermectin,” by Richard Fausset.

Victoria Knight: Wired’s “Dr. Oz Pushed for AI Health Care in First Medicare Agency Town Hall,” by Leah Feiger and Steven Levy.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Guardian’s “‘We Are Failing’: Doctors and Students in the US Look to Mexico for Basic Abortion Training,” by Carter Sherman.

Sandhya Raman: CQ Roll Call’s “In Sweden, a Focus on Smokeless Tobacco,” by Sandhya Raman.

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Trading the Uncertainty 4/24/25

Closing Bell

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