public health Archives | Washington Monthly

DOGE Is Done, But the Wreckage Remains

by Anne Kim August 26, 2026August 27, 2026

Elon Musk’s ill-considered rampage through government has left Americans vulnerable to long-term health and safety threats, says Brookings Institution expert Elaine Kamarck.

Political Science: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listen during an Oval Office event on health care affordability, April 23, 2026. Kennedy’s HHS has become central to the administration’s campaign against research it deems ideological. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump Escalates War on Science

by Merrill Goozner June 8, 2026June 5, 2026

Consensus, Censored: Under Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya, pictured here testifying during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington in March, the CDC refused to allow publication of a study showing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine in reducing hospitalizations.

Censorship at the FDA, CDC

by Merrill Goozner May 8, 2026May 7, 2026

A Year Spent Degrading Public Health. President Donald Trump listens as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 16, 2025, in Washington.

A Year Spent Degrading Health

by Merrill Goozner January 31, 2026January 31, 2026

California Scientific Research

As Washington Falters, California Leads the Way on Scientific Research

by Markos Kounalakis January 9, 2026January 8, 2026

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. departs a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission meeting at Dept. of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9, 2025.

RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement: Industry Takes Control

by Merrill Goozner September 11, 2025September 10, 2025

MAHA Czar RFK Jr.: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Secretary Kennedy faced bi-partisan backlash over cuts to vaccine research and availability.

RFK Jr.’s Lies Stain the Republic

by Jonathan Alter September 8, 2025September 7, 2025

The Republican Disaster Relief Disaster and the Democratic Path Forward

by Bill Scher July 28, 2025July 28, 2025

Get On the Bus: Why the Switch to Clean Mass Transit Will Improve Public Health

by Merrill Goozner June 29, 2023June 29, 2023

Neil Gorsuch

Law and Justice

Conservative Supreme Court Justices V. Statutory Text, the Constitution, and Public Safety

by Peter M. Shane January 31, 2022April 3, 2022

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