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After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

After Callais: The Amendment Agenda the Framers Built

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Will Fuel the “Disuniting” of the United States and the Unraveling of American Democracy

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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.
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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.


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America Keeps Turning Its Back on Childcare; Families are Paying the Price.

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration sent a clear message to American families: child care is a personal problem, not a public responsibility.

The president’s executive order repealed federally mandated provisions that helped stabilize the child care industry after the COVID-19 shutdown. Without these safety nets, more programs will close their doors. What little federal support childcare providers had was already inadequate. I know this firsthand because, after three decades in the child care field, I was forced to face a harsh reality and close my doors.

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Last Monday, two teenage gunmen opened fire outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, murdering three Muslim men. Unfortunately, this is the type of horror Americans have been conditioned to expect. After years of political stagnation on gun safety and ongoing hateful acts of violence, our president has signaled once again to children, to the Muslim community, and to everyone else: he does not care if you get shot.

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Issue One added below: “… but it needs 60 Senate votes to do it.”

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