Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
​U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, sitting behind a desk, appearing for a hearing.

Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Faces Expulsion Over Pocketing Overpayment

Rolling Back Health Equity Training Requirements in Medical Schools Harms Us All

Rolling Back Health Equity Training Requirements in Medical Schools Harms Us All

Prediction Markets Are Gambling, Despite What They Tell The Government

Prediction Markets Are Gambling, Despite What They Tell The Government

President Trump and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth standing next to each other at a news conference.

Hegseth, Trump, and the Desecration of the American Military

Naloxone displayed on a table.

Why Is Harm Reduction on the Chopping Block?

Senate confirms RFK. Jr as the nation's health secretary

News

Senate confirms RFK. Jr as the nation's health secretary

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Building on January 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Hugo Balta
By Hugo BaltaFeb 14, 2025
Hugo Balta
Hugo Balta is a journalist, educator, and communicator. Hugo is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is the publisher of the Latino News Network, a trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network, and an adjunct professor teaching journalism courses.
See More Writings by author

On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Donald Trump's administration, with a narrow vote of 52-48 largely following party lines.

“Our plans are radical transparency and returning gold standard science [to] NIH, the FDA and CDC, and ending the corruption, ending the corporate capture [of] those agencies, getting rid of the people on those panels that have conflicts of interest,” Kennedy said. “We can do unadorned and unimpeded science rather than the kind of product that is coming out of those agencies,” The Hill reported him saying.

His confirmation hearings were marked by significant controversy, particularly due to his previous statements linking vaccines to autism, a claim that has been widely discredited by scientific research.

Notably, Sen. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to oppose Kennedy's nomination, citing his belief in the value of vaccines based on personal experience and scientific evidence.

"I'm a survivor of childhood polio. In my lifetime, I've watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world," McConnell said after the Kennedy vote. Fox News reported him saying, "I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles."

Kennedy has stated that he is not anti-vaccine but advocates for vaccine safety and informed consent regarding medical decisions.

The founder of one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine groups will oversee a vast health portfolio, including vaccine-related policies, amid ongoing public health and safety debates.

SUGGESTION: RFK Jr. and Making America Healthy Again


Politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks on during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)


. Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum.


Latest news

Gerrymandering: The Maps Shaping Power Ahead of the 2026 Midterms
Governance & Legislation

Gerrymandering: The Maps Shaping Power Ahead of the 2026 Midterms

Judge's Gavel Hammer as a Symbol of Law and Order with Processor CPU AI Chip.
Media & Technology

xAI Pushes Free Speech Theory Into New AI Lawsuits

Democracy Requires Losing. Americans Are Forgetting That.
Democracy

Democracy Requires Losing. Americans Are Forgetting That.

Read More

Top of the U.S. Supreme Court House

Congress advances a reconciliation bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security while passing key rural legislation. As debates over ICE funding, wildfire policy, and broadband expansion unfold, lawmakers also face new questions about the use of AI in government.

Getty Images, Bloomberg Creative

Starting Up the Reconciliation Machine

This week the Senate began the long, procedure-heavy process of creating and passing a reconciliation bill in order to enact Republican priorities without requiring any votes from Democratic legislators: funding the parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whose funding remains lapsed and additional funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Also this week, the House agreed to two bills that next go to the President and voted on a number of bills related to rural areas.

Two New Laws Soon

Both of these bills go to the President next for signing:

Keep ReadingShow less
ICE Director Requests Additional $5.4 Billion at Congressional Budget Hearing

CBP Chief Rodney Scott (left), Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons (middle) and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow (right) testify at budget hearing.

Jamie Gareh/Medill News Service)

ICE Director Requests Additional $5.4 Billion at Congressional Budget Hearing

WASHINGTON- The acting director of ICE on Thursday told Congress that while the Trump administration pumped $75 billion extra into ICE over four years, many activities remain cash starved and the agency needs about $5.4 billion in additional funding for 2027.

There’s misinformation with the Big Beautiful Bill that ICE is fully funded,” said Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, whose resignation was announced later that day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Illinois House Passes Bill to Restrict Construction of Immigration Detention Centers in Communities

The Illinois State Capitol Building, in Springfield, Illinois on MAY 05, 2012.

(Photo By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Illinois House Passes Bill to Restrict Construction of Immigration Detention Centers in Communities

The Illinois House passed a legislative proposal in a 72-35 partisan vote that would restrict where immigration detention centers can be built, located or operated in the state.

House Bill 5024 would amend state code so that an immigration detention center cannot be located, constructed, or operated by the federal government within 1,500 feet of a home or apartment complex, as well as any school, day care center, public park, or house of worship. Current detention facilities in the state would not be affected by the legislation.

Keep ReadingShow less
Newspapers folded over.

Nearly 40% of Maryland newspapers question whether they will be able to operate without more funding within the next two years.

Adobe Stock

MD Bill To Support Local News Appears Unlikely To Pass This Session

As Maryland’s legislative session winds down, a bill in the General Assembly intended to support local newspapers across the state appears unlikely to pass.

The Local Newspapers for Maryland Communities Act would have required the state government to spend 50% of their print and digital advertising budget on local outlets in the state. The bill does not favor any particular news outlets, rather stipulating that organizations must produce original local content and have at least one reporter in or around Maryland.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026