Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a response to Democrat Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, who was defending New England favorite Dunkin&#8217; from the ire of MAHA.
The exchange came after Kennedy Jr. took aim at Dunkin&#8217; during a rally last week at Brazos Hall in Austin, Texas.
“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,&#8217;” RFK Jr. said at the time. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to do it.”
“No one is taking away your Dunkin&#8217;. But isn&#8217;t it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe?” RFK Jr. wrote in response to Healey’s tweet, which included an illustration of a Dunkin’ beverage cup and text beneath it saying, “Come and take it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
No one is taking away your Dunkin&#8217;. But isn&#8217;t it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe? <a href="https://t.co/nV6KLOBf94">https://t.co/nV6KLOBf94</a>
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecKennedy/status/2029648656005996907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
His position was further clarified after the rally.
“Secretary Kennedy also announced the closure of the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) loophole, requiring any new food ingredient to provide proof of safety,” MAHA Action, a Kennedy-aligned nonprofit, said in a statement <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hhs-secretary-kennedy-announces-nutrition-requirements-for-medical-licensing-baby-formula-safety-standards-at-austin-rally-for-real-food-302701305.html">posted</a> on Monday. 
“Companies including Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and Starbucks will be required to produce safety data they were supposed to have maintained. The reforms aim to ensure American foods follow the highest safety and nutritional standards globally.”
RFK Jr. railed against the GRAS loophole during a “60 Minutes” appearance last month.
“That loophole was hijacked by the industry, and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply,” Kennedy said at the time. “In Europe there’s only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food.”
“There is…no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultra processed,” he added.

Dunkin

RFK Jr. Takes Not So Sweet Dig At Democratic Governor In Dunkin’ Donuts Fight

Food

Health

MAHA

Massachusetts

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has alerted all 50 states that affirming &#8220;biological reality&#8221; does not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law.
&#8220;We sent letters to every state reminding them that children may not be removed from their home solely because parents declined to support a child&#8217;s self-identification as the opposite sex,&#8221; said Alex Adams, the Assistant Secretary for the ACF, in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWhuT4EHHdQ&amp;t=2s">video</a> published by HHS.
&#8220;Removing a child from their home must be based on objective evidence or imminent risk of serious harm. So a state&#8217;s decision to break up a family cannot be based solely on a parent&#8217;s objection to radical gender ideology or irreversible sex rejecting medical interventions,&#8221; Adams stated.
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<div>
President Trump highlighted the importance of protecting families from being labeled as abusive for rejecting gender ideology at last week&#8217;s State of the Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-do-you-not-stand-the-jaw-dropping-moments-democrats-remained-seated-at-sotu?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98How+Do+You+Not+Stand%3F%E2%80%99%3A+The+Jaw-Dropping+Moments+Democrats+Remained+Seated+At+SOTU">address</a>. He told the story of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sage Blair</a>, whose parents were denied custody of the Virginia teen for not affirming her transgender identity, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> in 2023.
<div>&#8220;HHS is sending a clear and unequivocal message to all 50 states about cases like that of Sage Blair, acknowledging biological reality and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs should not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law,&#8221; Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine stated in the HHS video.</div>
Parents across the country, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murdered-by-gender-ideology-mother-whose-daughter-committed-suicide-blasts-child-protective-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a>, <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/m-c-and-j-c-v-indiana-department-of-child-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana</a>, and <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/17/exclusive-gender-confused-kids-taken-non-affirming-parents-one-family-fight-son-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a>, have had their children taken away by child welfare services for affirming their child’s sex.
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<div>
During the State of the Union address, President Trump called for further federal action to protect families from the harms of gender ideology.
“Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who would believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately,” Trump said.
The <a href="https://acf.gov/media/press/2026/acf-defends-biological-reality-parental-rights-letter-50-states">letter</a> from the ACF appears to be an initial step in answering President Trump&#8217;s directive.
The letter reminded states that child welfare systems are supported by federal funding, noting the ACF has a &#8220;vested interest and duty in ensuring funds are used appropriately.&#8221;
&#8220;States have a duty to protect children from abuse and neglect while safeguarding parental rights and federal resources. Recently, ACF has received reports of certain states removing children from their homes because the parent disagreed with the rejection of the child’s sex, including sex-rejecting interventions,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;States receiving federal child welfare funding are obligated to ensure that investigations and removals are grounded in objective evidence of harm or imminent risk, and that parents are afforded their full procedural and substantive rights.&#8221;
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</div>
The ACF encouraged states to clearly define the terms &#8220;abuse&#8221; and &#8220;neglect,&#8221; saying these definitions should clarify that affirming a child&#8217;s sex and &#8220;refusing to condone sex-rejecting interventions&#8221; does not constitute abuse.
Several states have already taken steps to legally clarify that affirming a child’s sex is not abuse, including <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1412/HB1412.06.ENRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana</a>, <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1412/HB1412.06.ENRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Carolina</a>, and <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect-texas/#:~:text=Exceptions,A%20child's%20expressed%20sexual%20orientation">Texas</a>.

Trans Protest

Trump Admin Sends New Guidance To All 50 States On Trans Kid Disputes

HHS Tells All 50 States That Affirming 'Biological Reality' Is Not Child Abuse

Gender Identity

radical gender ideology

Transgender

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is asking the Department of Health and Human Services to release a trove of emails and communications written by the Biden administration’s high-profile, transgender-identifying Assistant Secretary Richard “Rachel” Levine.
“It is crucial that Congress and the Executive Branch, including HHS, partner together to uncover any collusion or wrongdoing, including the suppression of evidence-based medicine by previous administrations, which can cause irrevocable harm to our country’s children,” the Louisiana Republican, who <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chairs</a> the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), wrote in the letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In the letter, Cassidy requests emails and communications between Levine, members of his staff, and several medical organizations that support gender transitions for children, including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society, that were exchanged during the Biden presidency.
“HHS remains committed to reversing the harmful policies enacted by Levine and the Biden Administration that did irreparable harm to children, and to ensuring biological reality guides our approach to public health. The Department will respond directly to Senator Cassidy,” Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard told The Daily Wire.
The Biden administration was known for its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-releases-report-promoting-transgenderism-abroad-for-inclusive-democracy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">embrace</a> of radical gender ideology and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-media-lied-about-child-gender-surgeries-and-heres-the-proof" target="_blank" rel="noopener">push</a> to provide experimental sex-rejecting interventions, such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, to children and young adults.
Cassidy asks in the letter that HHS provide communications between Admiral Levine and White House personnel, including “former President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and staff,” about “gender affirming care” and the transgender agenda.
Levine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admins-rachel-levine-met-with-wpath-as-he-pushed-for-removal-of-trans-surgery-age-restrictions?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Biden+Admin%E2%80%99s+Rachel+Levine+Met+With+WPATH+As+He+Pushed+For+Removal+Of+Trans+Surgery+Age+Restrictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversially</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-biden-official-allegedly-behind-push-to-ditch-age-guidelines-for-transgender-procedures-docs-show?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trans-Identifying+Biden+Official+Allegedly+Behind+Push+To+Ditch+Age+Guidelines+For+Transgender+Procedures%3A+Docs+Show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressured WPATH</a> into removing gender surgery age minimums from its clinical guidance, called the Standards of Care version 8, as revealed in emails made public during Boe v. Marshall, when Alabama Attorney General Stephen Marshall successfully <a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025.5.1-Attorney-General-Steve-Marshall-Announces-Victory-in-Defense-of-Alabamas-Law-Prohibiting-Sex-Change-Procedures-for-Minors.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended</a> Alabama’s right to ban sex-rejecting procedures for minors.
“Former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Levine and staff, exercised significant political influence over WPATH and possibly other medical and professional organizations,” Cassidy writes.
“That influence appears to have been directed toward and ultimately resulted in the removal of age limits for adolescent gender transition surgical interventions, including mastectomies, breast augmentation, facial surgeries, genital surgeries, and hysterectomies, from WPATH’s Standards of Care (SOC-8).”
Cassidy asked HHS to provide the requested emails, documents, and communications by March 5, 2026.
“Americans have every right to know the scientific rigor of the data behind policies and guidelines issued by medical and professional organizations, particularly given that these guidelines are widely used and relied upon by health care providers and patients, including minors,” Cassidy said.

Joe Biden

The New Move To Uncover Biden White House Emails On Youth Gender Policy

bill Cassidy

Rachel Levine

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is ending the use of human fetal tissue in federally-funded research, The Daily Wire can first report.
Effective immediately, National Institutes of Health funds will no longer be used for research that involves the fetal tissue of aborted babies. That policy will apply to all NIH grants, cooperative agreements, transaction awards, research and development contracts, and the NIH Intramural Research Program.
The move is a significant win for the pro-life movement, which has long pushed for the United States to respect the dignity of the unborn, whose tissue is bought by researchers after abortions. Under the first Trump administration, the president banned intramural use of aborted fetal tissue, meaning research conducted within United States government facilities.
This time, Trump&#8217;s NIH is going further, stating that it will not fund any research involving tissue from aborted babies. The institute frames the move as a significant milestone in the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts to &#8220;modernize biomedical science and accelerate innovation,&#8221; but it comes just one day before the annual March for Life, a significant nod to the pro-life Americans gathering in Washington who have worked for years to arrive at this moment.
“NIH is pushing American biomedical science into the 21st century,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said Thursday. “This decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease. Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.”
<div id="attachment_1031609" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-admin-ends-funding-for-research-using-aborted-baby-tissue/hhs-secretary-kennedy-holds-news-conference-on-synthetic-dyes-in-food-supply-6" rel="attachment wp-att-1031609"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1031609" class="wp-image-1031609 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2210917374-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2210917374-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2210917374-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2210917374-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2210917374.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Only 77 projects using human fetal tissue were funded by NIH during the Fiscal Year 2024, declining steadily since 2019, NIH says. Simultaneously, other advances offer alternatives that can &#8220;drive discovery while reducing ethical concerns:&#8221; advances in tissue chips, computational biology, organoids, and other platforms.
In an interview with Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro, Bhattacharya noted that the use of human fetal tissue from aborted babies has sparked arguments for years, putting &#8220;a large part of the population&#8221; in an ethical quandary. Given the significant advances in science and the plethora of alternatives, he said, there is no reason to put Americans in a position that might violate their consciences.
&#8220;Now that there is better technology, there&#8217;s no scientific harm to this, we&#8217;re still going to be able to use the science we need &#8230; while at the same time getting rid of this use of aborted fetal tissue which so many people, including me, find morally abhorrent,&#8221; Bhattacharya said.
He also pointed out that tissue can still be used for NIH-funded research if it is not specifically from an abortion.
&#8220;Someone who has had a miscarriage and wants to do a meaningful thing and they donate the tissue from the miscarriage to science, that&#8217;s still allowed,&#8221; he told Shapiro. &#8220;The only ban is on, you have an abortion specifically to terminate the baby, and then the tissue then gets sold, that&#8217;s what&#8217;s being banned.&#8221;
The administration views the move as evidence of its commitment to both scientific excellence and &#8220;responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,&#8221; ensuring that the United States is still the &#8220;global leader in biomedical innovation&#8221; while at the same time staying true to the values of the American people.
Bhattacharya stressed this point, reminding Shapiro that certain coronavirus vaccines were developed using embryonic stem cells.
&#8220;I heard from so many people during the pandemic, Catholics and others, who had qualms about using this technology because they didn&#8217;t want to be gaining from what their moral system said was the fruit of the poisoned tree,&#8221; he explained, adding, &#8220;I completely sympathize with this.&#8221;
&#8220;In public health and in science, we should seek to produce knowledge and products that are widely available for everybody,&#8221; the NIH leader continued. &#8220;If there are large numbers of people with moral systems that say if you go down this line and use research with aborted human fetal tissue, I&#8217;m not going to participate in it&#8230;well what good was the research?&#8221;
As abortions in the United States became more common, the use of aborted baby bodies for research sparked national controversy. In the early 2000s, then-Senator Rick Santorum introduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/3504">Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006</a>, banning any person or entity involved in interstate commerce from soliciting or knowingly acquiring, receiving, or accepting a donation of human fetal tissue obtained through an abortion.
<div id="attachment_1031611" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-admin-ends-funding-for-research-using-aborted-baby-tissue/pro-life-activist-david-daleiden-appears-in-court-over-planned-parenthood-video-sting-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1031611"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1031611" class="wp-image-1031611 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-508396548-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-508396548-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-508396548-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-508396548-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-508396548.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>David Daleiden (Photo by Eric Kayne/Getty Images)</div>
President George W. Bush signed that bill into law in July 2006. But anxieties over the use of aborted baby bodies continued, and in 2015 and 2016, undercover pro-life activist David Daleiden, the head of the Center for Medical Progress, <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/08/07/exclusive-kamala-harris-sent-agents-raid-pro-life-journalists-home-met-planned-parenthood-emails-show/">published videos allegedly showing</a> Planned Parenthood officials describing how they extract aborted-baby body parts and joking about compensation.
Daleiden alleged that the videos prove Planned Parenthood was selling the aborted baby body parts for profit. Planned Parenthood said he was lying, sued him, accused him of deceptively editing the videos, and claimed they were only reimbursed for costs (meaning, the expenses incurred in transportation or delivery). After heavy backlash, Planned Parenthood announced in 2015 that they would no longer accept reimbursements for costs.
Daleiden suffered through almost a decade of legal battles, led by the California Attorney General&#8217;s Office headed at the time by Kamala Harris. Xavier Becerra, who would go on to become Joe Biden&#8217;s Health and Human Services secretary, carried on that legal battle against Daleiden after Harris left office.

President Trump Announces Plan To Reduce The Cost Of Prescription Drugs

Ahead Of March For Life, Trump Admin Ends Funding For Research Using Aborted Baby Tissue

Abortion

Donald Trump

March For Life

Like many young American girls, when I was a teenager, I hated myself and my body. I was unhappy and anxious. Eventually, I was diagnosed with depression and anorexia. 
It goes without saying that I was no stranger to feeling like I wasn’t “me” in my own body. No one told me to get liposuction for my anorexia. But when I went to the counselor’s office for my first appointment for gender dysphoria, I left with a letter of approval for testosterone.
Since I’ve detransitioned, life has felt like a roller coaster. The physical distress I experienced going through hormone “therapy” and surgery that drastically changed my body is only one portion of how horrific it truly is to not only attempt something impossible by supposedly transitioning from one gender to another, but to return to identifying with reality.
I was called a patient, but from start to finish, I was never treated like one.
Being a patient requires informed consent and the exhaustion of all avenues of care before resorting to the most drastic option. And yet, from the start, doctors were ecstatic to accelerate my so-called transition without once suggesting mental health treatment. Instead, a counselor suggested almost immediately that I needed to be put on wrong-sex hormones. When I raised any suspicion that this was not the right choice for me, the doctors were far from supportive and made me feel like my voice didn’t matter anymore. I was praised for raising my voice and embracing who I thought I was, but only when I identified as trans. Yet when I voiced a dissenting opinion on the same topic, the response was underwhelming and even shame-inducing.
For years, gender clinics, medical associations, and activist groups have driven the conversation around so-called “gender-affirming care,” but there has never been any long-term testing done to see what the implications of these treatments are on minors, especially the ones still going through puberty. Any time a question was raised as to whether this was safe, or if there could be a possibility of trans-identifying minors changing their minds down the road, it was diminished as “rare” and accused of putting politics over the mental health of these children.
The Trump administration has been the first presidential administration to sound the alarm on these harmful practices. For the first time, federal agencies started to ask the questions that detransitioners had been trying to warn the public about: are these “treatments” actually safe, or are they doing more harm than good?
In his first year back in office, President Trump has elevated the voices of detransitioners like me. Last summer, I had the honor of testifying <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/GAC-RFI-FINAL.pdf">in front of the Federal Trade Commission</a>, sharing my experience of how I was essentially forced into “gender-affirming care,” instead of the mental health care and therapy I desperately needed. Only a few years ago, my voice would have never been heard in the federal landscape.
Gender medicine has thrived in a system with zero accountability. I am proud to be at the forefront of a movement that is finally asking for the kind of accountability that is long overdue.
Detransitioners like me have been gaslit into believing we are anomalies, and that if doctors hadn’t taken action, we would’ve been suicidal or worse, dead. What the mainstream doesn’t want you to know is that my mental health issues didn’t magically disappear overnight once I began transitioning — they actually got worse. Yet the doctors who led me down this path have faced zero opposition and zero accountability — until now.
President Trump and his administration have been a disruptor to the system of gender ideology since day one. His administration has led the charge to make sure that the doctors, experts, and gender-ideology apologists finally answer the questions that have been stamped down, argued as ridiculous, and smeared by those who chose ideology over reality.
One of the first actions President Trump took upon being back in the Oval Office was <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/2025/01/28/president-trump-protects-americas-children-from-chemical-surgical-mutilation-in-latest-executive-order/">signing an executive order</a> to protect minors from receiving any sex-changing surgery or procedure. This executive order also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to subsidize irreversible medical harm to children. HHS’s proposed guardrails bar hospitals that perform “gender-affirming care” from participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
Late last year, HHS also <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/2025/12/18/hhs-takes-historic-action-to-ban-body-mutilating-medical-procedures-targeting-gender-confused-youth/">released a peer-reviewed, evidence-based review</a> concluding pediatric gender interventions lack long-term safety data and do not meet professionally recognized standards of care. Secretary Kennedy formally declared that these dangerous procedures were far outside acceptable medical practice. This bold move was the nail in the coffin of the claim that “the science is settled” and got gender medicine back on track based on evidence, ethics, and informed consent.
Detransitioners like myself are grateful for the actions taken by the Trump administration that will ensure the safety and well-being of the next generation.
While my detransitioner friends and I may not have been protected, I know that the work we have put in — in speaking out, standing up, and tirelessly testifying across the country — will have a meaningful impact in protecting kids who are struggling with their mental health. I will continue to fight for the childhoods of every gender-confused kid out there so that they are protected from fear, coercion, and medical harm.
* * *
Prisha Mosley is an Independent Women ambassador and detransitioner. Independent Women Features, the storytelling platform of Independent Women, featured Prisha’s story as part of its “Identity Crisis” docu-series, which highlights the irreversible harms of gender ideology. Prisha’s story, including her pregnancy journey, was documented in two parts, which can be found <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/mentally-ill-teen-betrayed-by-health-professionals-who-recommended-testosterone-and-top-surgery/">here</a> and <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/a-detransitioners-pregnancy-journey/">here</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
This article has been edited for clarity.

Trump Executive Orders

A Year Of Action To Protect Kids From Child Mutilation

Children

gender ideology

Puberty blockers

Teenagers

transgender surgery

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday that it has frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota amid news of a massive fraud scandal in the state.
&#8220;We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,&#8221; Deputy Secretary Jim O&#8217;Neill and Administration for Children &amp; Families Assistant Secretary Alex Adams announced in a video released on X Tuesday evening. &#8220;You have probably read the serious allegations that the state of Minnesota has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade.&#8221;
HHS has taken three actions &#8220;against the blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country,&#8221; he explained. The first action: activating HHS&#8217; &#8220;Defend the Spend system,&#8221; requiring justification and a receipt or photo evidence before they send money to a state.
The second action hinges directly on journalist Nick Shirley&#8217;s investigative work over the past few months: O&#8217;Neill says that he and his colleagues have identified the individuals in Shirley&#8217;s video, and are demanding a &#8220;comprehensive audit of these centers,&#8221; including attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, inspections, and more.
HHS said its third action is launching a fraud reporting hotline and email address where parents, providers, and members of the public can submit tips.
&#8220;We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,&#8221; the officials said.
<div id="attachment_1021659" style="width: 835px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-freezes-all-child-care-payments-to-minnesota-amid-daycare-fraud-scandal/president-trump-holds-roundtable-discussion-at-the-white-house-on-antifa-4" rel="attachment wp-att-1021659"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1021659" class="wp-image-1021659 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240003913-1-825x576.jpg" alt="" width="825" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240003913-1-825x576.jpg 825w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240003913-1-300x209.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240003913-1-768x536.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240003913-1.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px" /></a>Independent journalist Nick Shirley speaks during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
Shirley&#8217;s viral videos show a number of examples of concerning activity in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, region. His work comes after a federal prosecutor said that there has been at least $9 billion in fraud in the state under Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz&#8217;s watch.
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The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minnesota-is-currently-paying-an-indicted-somali-fraudster-to-run-assisted-living-homes">reported earlier this month</a> that the Minnesota government was still paying an accused Somali fraudster to run assisted living homes as that man awaited trial for his alleged role in the nation&#8217;s largest COVID scam, in which he ran a fraudulent charity.
According to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/billions-paid-out-by-medicaid-in-minnesota-may-be-fraudulent-us-attorney/">14 Medicaid services in Minnesota are</a> at &#8220;high risk&#8221; for fraud.
Shirley, who appeared on Fox News over the weekend, discussed how he found suspicious daycare and learning centers in Minneapolis with no children present that are potentially fronts for scams.
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“It’s so obvious,” Shirley <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/independent-journalist-who-uncovered-minnesota-fraud-says-a-kindergartner-could-figure-it-out">explained</a>, referring to the apparent fraud. “If you’re living in Minnesota, you have to raise your eyebrows and think, ‘What’s going on?’ Literally, if you drive around Minneapolis, you’ll see daycare centers, autism centers — you will then see transportation companies that have snow piled up as if they haven’t moved it in months.&#8221;
“A kindergartner could’ve figured out there was fraud going on.&#8221;
Walz addressed the viral reports on Tuesday, acknowledging that the state has been &#8220;taken advantage of&#8221; by fraudsters who prioritized &#8220;greed&#8221; over the needs of children and the elderly. But Walz blamed the issue on President Donald Trump.
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<div class="css-175oi2r">
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<div id="id__fz40m043zb" class="css-146c3p1 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-37j5jr r-1inkyih r-16dba41 r-bnwqim r-135wba7" dir="auto" lang="en" data-testid="tweetText">&#8220;We’ve spent years cracking down on fraud &#8211; referring cases to law enforcement, shutting down and auditing high-risk programs,&#8221; he said in a social media post. &#8220;Trump keeps letting fraudsters out of prison. To the national news just now paying attention, here’s what we’ve done to stop it.&#8221;</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We’ve spent years cracking down on fraud &#8211; referring cases to law enforcement, shutting down and auditing high-risk programs.
Trump keeps letting fraudsters out of prison.
To the national news just now paying attention, here’s what we’ve done to stop it. <a href="https://t.co/bgvKPxVxxm">pic.twitter.com/bgvKPxVxxm</a>
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tim_Walz/status/2006109443893674228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Minnesota Public Schools Begin Year Days After Mass Shooting

Trump Admin Freezes ‘All Child Care Payments’ To Minnesota Amid Daycare Fraud Scandal

Executive

Fraud

Health and Human Services

Minneapolis

Minnesota

U.S.

A new childhood vaccination schedule under Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could look a lot more like Denmark&#8217;s schedule — meaning more parental control, fewer overall shots, and nixing very early doses.
Kennedy has made it clear that he wants to overhaul how vaccines are recommended — and mandated — in the United States. So far, the secretary has handpicked a new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) panel and green-lighted changes to the Hep B and COVID vaccines.
But more changes are coming. New reports indicate that HHS wants to recommend fewer vaccines and instead encourage parents to speak to their doctors about certain shots. Denmark&#8217;s vaccine schedule is reportedly the model HHS wants to align with more closely.
In Denmark, children receive far fewer vaccines than children in the U.S. For example, the Scandinavian nation does not recommend vaccinating children against the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis A and B, or chickenpox, among other viruses, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/19/childhood-vaccine-schedule-denmark-revisions">highlighted</a> by The Washington Post. Compared to the U.S., Denmark recommends eight fewer vaccines against infectious diseases.
Also, in Denmark, children are recommended to get vaccinations later than in the U.S. Denmark waits until a baby is 3 months old before vaccinations, recommending zero at birth. A fully vaccinated 12-month-old child in Denmark will have received 18 vaccine doses for six diseases, <a href="https://cyvaccine.com/article/does-demnark-practice-same-vaccination-schedule-as-the-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Cyvaccine, while a 12-month-old in the U.S. will have received 43 vaccine doses for 16 diseases.
Denmark also offers parents more control over their child&#8217;s vaccinations. Recommendations are voluntary in the Scandinavian country, and not mandated for school entry, unlike in the U.S. Kennedy reportedly wants to mirror Denmark in this respect, too.
Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said such a change would put liability back on vaccine manufacturers, which is something HHS, under Kennedy, seems inclined to do.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 Dr. Scott Gottlieb Worries That Moving the U.S. to the Denmark Vaccine Schedule Could Make Vaccine Makers Liable Again
“If they move away from recommending these vaccines and move them to a different configuration on the CDC schedule called shared clinical decision making,… <a href="https://t.co/xIrDSYKrXA">pic.twitter.com/xIrDSYKrXA</a>
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/2003095686921716054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
Rumors of the shifts peaked after President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum earlier this month directing HHS to &#8220;FAST TRACK&#8221; a comprehensive evaluation of vaccine schedules. Trump directed the department to change the vaccine schedule so it more closely mirrors other developed nations, while using the &#8220;Gold Standard of Science and COMMON SENSE!”
“The American Childhood Vaccine Schedule long required 72 ‘jabs,’ for perfectly healthy babies, far more than any other Country in the World, and far more than is necessary,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “In fact, it is ridiculous! Many parents and scientists have been questioning the efficacy of this ‘schedule,’ as have I!”
&#8220;I have just signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to ‘FAST TRACK’ a comprehensive evaluation of Vaccine Schedules from other Countries around the World, and better align the U.S. Vaccine Schedule, so it is finally rooted in the Gold Standard of Science and COMMON SENSE!&#8221; he continued.
“I am fully confident Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the CDC, will get this done, quickly and correctly, for our Nation’s Children,” Trump added. “Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAHA!”
<div id="attachment_1010839" style="width: 938px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010839" class="wp-image-1010839 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM-928x576.png" alt="" width="928" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM-928x576.png 928w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM-300x186.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM-768x477.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM-1536x953.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-06-at-10.10.19-AM.png 1576w" sizes=" (max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" />Truth Social</div>
As for more, HHS says any reports about the vaccine schedule shake-up are merely speculation. “Unless you hear it from HHS directly, this is pure speculation,&#8221; HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/19/childhood-vaccine-schedule-denmark-revisions">said</a>.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-to-cut-funding-from-all-hospitals-that-perform-trans-procedures-on-kids">Trump Admin To Strip All Federal Funding From Hospitals That Perform Trans Procedures On Kids</a>

Newborn Receiving Vaccination at Hospital with Medical Professional in Brightly Lit Setting

RFK Wants To Shake Up Childhood Vaccines To Mirror Denmark. Here’s What That Could Mean For Parents

RFK Shaking Up Childhood Vax Schedule. Here’s What Could Come Next

COVID

Denmark

Vaccines

The suspect in the Brown University shooting who also allegedly killed an MIT professor two days later is found dead, the Trump administration rolls out new rules to defund hospitals that perform transgender procedures on minors, and a positive economic report shows cooling inflation.
It’s Friday, December 19, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251219-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brown-shooting-suspect-found-dead-12-19-25/id1576594336?i=1000741970705" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Brown And MIT Shooter Found Dead, Authorities Say</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1017589" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
On Thursday, police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brown-shooting-suspect-found-dead-by-suicide-in-new-hampshire-storage-facility">found</a> the body of the man who they said was responsible for the deaths of two students at Brown University and a professor at MIT. Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, died by suicide in a storage locker he had rented in New Hampshire. His last known address was in Miami, Florida, but he originally came from Portugal. Authorities said he attended Brown in the early 2000s as a PhD student, but he never completed the program. New Hampshire authorities said Neves Valente also attended the same academic program in Portugal as MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, who was found dead in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, earlier this week. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Neves Valente “entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.” Noem said Thursday night she had <a href="https://x.com/sec_noem/status/2001873077089767435">paused</a> the DV1 program at President Donald Trump’s direction.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Cuts Funds To Hospitals Performing Trans Treatments</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1017591" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Transition-Treatment-Banned.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The Trump administration has moved to cut off federal funding for hospitals performing transgender procedures and surgeries on minors, a fulfillment of a major Trump campaign promise. A number of new rules are being applied to cut off federal funding to any facility that performs trans procedures on children, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgical operations. The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) will bar hospitals from performing any of these procedures on children under 18 as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs. New rules will also block funding of Medicaid’s Children’s Health Insurance Program for trans procedures on anyone under 19. That program, known as CHIP, covers millions of kids nationwide.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Inflation Cools</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1017593" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
November’s Consumer Price Index report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-report-surprises-economists-as-key-metric-drops-to-lowest-level-since-2021">shows</a> that inflation cooled last month, defying expert predictions and providing political relief for President Trump. The report was especially important, as it was the first since September. The October report was lost to the federal shutdown. Economists had originally predicted a month-over-month rise of 3.1%, but inflation actually came in at 2.7%. That is down from a peak 9% in 2022 under President Joe Biden. Looking at core inflation, which strips out prices on volatile goods such as food and gas, the numbers appear even better. In November, CPI was 2.6%, the lowest since March 2021. The Trump administration took a victory lap on Thursday, and investors were also thrilled by the news, as the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&amp;P 500 all climbed significantly.

MRN_251219_V2

Morning Brief: College Killer Found Dead, Kids Protected From Trans Mutilation, & Inflation Cools

Brown University

Inflation

Morning Wire

WASHINGTON—The last Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services was a man who identified as a woman and promoted the false claim that “gender-affirming” procedures are medically necessary for children. His replacement is a Catholic grandfather whose vigorous defense of freedom and the vulnerable has earned the Left&#8217;s scorn.
Admiral Brian Christine is a urologist from Alabama, a member of the American Urologic Association, the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the International Continence Society.
Last month, his office <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report">r</a><a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report">eleased a report</a> on the risks of gender transition procedures for kids.  That report found that puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgeries have &#8220;significant, long-term&#8221; harms that are &#8220;too often ignored or inadequately tracked.&#8221; He is determined, he told The Daily Wire, to do exactly the opposite of what his predecessor did.
That would be Rachel (Richard) Levine, a transgender-identifying man whom the Biden administration put front and center to convey its commitment to radical gender ideology. Levine came under fire during his tenure for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-secretary-levine-dubs-self-agencys-first-female-four-star-officer-in-bizarre-video-highlighting-diversity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> to be the “first female four-star officer” and attempting to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-biden-official-allegedly-behind-push-to-ditch-age-guidelines-for-transgender-procedures-docs-show?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trans-Identifying+Biden+Official+Allegedly+Behind+Push+To+Ditch+Age+Guidelines+For+Transgender+Procedures%3A+Docs+Show">remove any age restrictions</a> for transgender surgeries.
Brian Christine has different priorities.
On Friday morning, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ceremonially swore Christine in as the assistant secretary for health and the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, pinning Christine with his insignia to recognize his rank as a four-star admiral. 
&#8220;When President Trump and I asked Brian Christine to serve, we weren&#8217;t just checking a box,” the secretary <a href="https://1819news.com/news/item/rfk-jr-praises-mountain-brook-doctor-admiral-brian-christine-during-pinning-ceremony">said on Friday</a>. “We were both convinced that we had found the leader who would be most able to revive and strengthen the uniform service.&#8221;
“Under Admiral Christine&#8217;s leadership, the core is entering a new era, one defined by readiness, transparency, integrity, and clinical excellence,” the secretary promised. “He will rebuild our alignment, the core&#8217;s alignment with sister agencies, restoring pride in the uniform, and sharpening our focus on preparedness and fitness.”
In an interview with The Daily Wire from his office in the Hubert Humphrey building in Washington, D.C., Christine explained that there are about 5,200 individuals in the <a href="https://www.usphs.gov/">commissioned corps</a> of the public health service, commissioned by the president, who carry a rank. Christine, as an admiral, is one of them. 
“We are the secretary and the president&#8217;s deployable healthcare force,” he explained. “We have physicians. There are nurses, there are engineers, even veterinarians, believe it or not, scientists who are part of the commission corps. We deploy to where the secretary, where the president feels that we are needed for public health efforts.”
“We have officers that work at the FDA, for instance. We have officers, a tremendous number, that work in the Indian Health Services &#8230; We have officers, 18 officers, that are at Guantanamo Bay providing the medical care for individuals in Guantanamo Bay. We have officers in the Federal Prison Bureau taking care of inmates, because they need medical care as well.&#8221; 
Christine is ready to dive into a number of issues, but a main priority for him is to build up the commissioned corps, to increase morale, and make sure they’re ready to be deployed by the secretary. One way of doing this: launching his “Public Health Service Mission Fit,” an initiative to build a stronger Public Health Service and to support readiness in “physical fitness, mental wellness, sleep, and nutrition.” 
“We want to be ready,” he shared. “I want my officers to be physically fit, to be mentally fit, to be emotionally fit, to be deployed, and to lead the charge on public health. One of my goals is to bring the commission corps more in line with the other uniformed services &#8230; it&#8217;s going to promote physical well-being. It&#8217;s going to promote physical challenges for my officers, physical fitness training twice a year, physical fitness standards that need to be met weekly required training.”
Christine is very excited about the plan (“He’s very fit, as you can tell,” joked Kennedy at the Friday ceremony as he discussed how Christine plans to promote fitness through his role). He plans to take his own public health service fitness test in the next few weeks, post the results, and challenge his officers to beat his score.
Levine, he said, did not promote physical fitness. 
“This was not a priority for him,” Christine said, using the masculine pronoun “he” to refer to Levine. “It&#8217;s a priority for me. Our officers. We&#8217;re going to be challenging the other uniformed services. We&#8217;re going to be challenging them to put together teams. We&#8217;re going to put together physical challenges, fitness challenges, and we&#8217;re going to engage. We&#8217;re going to challenge them. We&#8217;re going to meet the other uniformed service members on the field of battle, and we&#8217;re going to be having competitions.”
<div id="attachment_1014985" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-admiral-brian-christine-the-man-replacing-bidens-infamous-trans-identifying-health-official/the-atlantic-festival-2024-day-1-8" rel="attachment wp-att-1014985"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1014985" class="wp-image-1014985 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2173174162-864x576.jpg" alt="Rachel (Richard) Levine speaks on stage during the &quot;Takling the Youth Mental-Health Crisis&quot; Panel for The Atlantic Festival 2024 on September 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Atlantic)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2173174162-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2173174162-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2173174162-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2173174162.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Rachel (Richard) Levine speaks on September 19, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Atlantic)</div>
Undoing Levine’s push to promote so-called “gender-affirming care” for children is another main priority for Christine, who spoke at length of how radical this effort was. 
“We’re righting those wrongs right now,” he said. “We&#8217;re focused on protecting our children. We&#8217;re focused on preaching the truth that a little boy is a little boy, a little girl is a little girl. You can&#8217;t change that.”
Christine is sympathetic to the struggles of children struggling with gender dysphoria and to the challenges their parents face. On a personal level, he believes in pastoral care from pastors or priests who can help support these kids, if their parents wish it. 
“We&#8217;re focused upon telling parents there is hope for these kids who suffer with gender dysphoria,” he explained. “They do suffer. They need counseling. They need compassionate counseling and care and support.”
“We&#8217;re advocating for what&#8217;s best for children,” he said firmly. “We have science to back us up, clear science [showing] that the wrong way to treat these children are castrating chemicals and surgeries that reject their sex. That&#8217;s what Rachel Levine had pushed. We&#8217;re righting those wrongs right now.” 
His confidence is bolstered by the knowledge that both the President of the United States and the Secretary of Health and Human Services are firmly behind this cause as well. 
“President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are working to turn this country around. To make this country greater than it&#8217;s ever been, to make the country healthier. We in this office, we want to be and we are the tip of the spear for that. We&#8217;re here for the president. We&#8217;re here for the secretary, and we’re not going to back down.” 
HHS sparked a backlash earlier this month by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-biden-official-outraged-trump-hhs-changed-his-nameplate?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trans-Identifying+Biden+Official+Outraged+Trump+HHS+Changed+His+Nameplate">changing the name</a> on Levine’s official portrait in the halls of the Humphrey Building — it formerly read Rachel Levine, but now reads Richard Levine. Under the Biden administration, Democrats and activists had widely celebrated that Levine was the first “transgender person to win Senate confirmation,” consistently describing Levine as a woman and heralding his wins as those of women. 
Levine’s spokesman called the name change an “act of bigotry against her,” and Levine himself told NPR, “I&#8217;m not going to comment on this type of petty action.&#8221;
An HHS spokesman said that their &#8220;priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science,” telling outlets at the time: “We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.&#8221;
Asked about the matter, Christine himself brushed the topic off. 
“The bottom line is the name on that plaque is the name that that person was given at their birth on their birth certificate,” he said, adding, “We&#8217;re not focusing on that.”
What he is focused on is righting Levine’s wrongs. He believes that he brings the perspective of a main street physician to the role, one who truly understands healthcare. 
“I want to help the American people understand that … it&#8217;s a new day for health care. Secretary Kennedy promotes science, transparency, honesty, integrity, promotes all the things that my predecessor and the prior president did not,” he said. 
“It&#8217;s wonderful,” he responded. When asked whether he finds the task daunting, “because we have the opportunity to do so much good. We have the opportunity to really help President Trump make America greater than it&#8217;s ever been and to help the secretary make America healthier than it&#8217;s ever been. Doing it with science and truth and integrity and honesty.” 
Americans should expect to see Christine’s office continue to push back against gender ideology. Christine also says his office is heavily involved with the dietary guidelines, sharing that new guidelines will be released in January: “This is going to be taking the very best science and speaking to how we can improve our diets and how we can really make America healthy again.”
There’s more to come, he promised, vowing that his office will not be “taking our foot off the accelerator.” 
As for any media backlash to these intended projects, Christine didn’t seem too worried. 
“I believe we have the science and the integrity to back us up,” he said simply. “The secretary does. The president does. That&#8217;s fine. I&#8217;m in this role. I understood what I was getting into, right? And I&#8217;m proud to be here. I&#8217;m not afraid of that at all.” 
“There&#8217;s always going to be individuals who have an axe to grind who don&#8217;t love our secretary, and they&#8217;re going to make up stories about him and produce fake news,” he added. “We&#8217;re going to tell the truth.”

signal-2025-12-15-141348_002

Meet Admiral Brian Christine, The Man Replacing Biden’s Infamous Trans-Identifying Health Official

WASHINGTON—The head of the Food and Drug Administration is facing heavy fire from the pro-life community amid reports that he slow-walked a review of abortion drugs promised by Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The backlash followed a Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-08/fda-slow-walking-a-long-awaited-abortion-pill-safety-study">report</a> stating that the FDA had delayed its review of the impacts of abortion drugs, specifically mifepristone — a review promised by both Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Two people familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg that Makary requested that the review be put off until after the midterm elections.
Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told The Daily Wire on Tuesday afternoon that the FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews &#8220;take the time necessary to get the science right,&#8221; adding, &#8220;That is what Dr. Makary is ensuring as part of the Department&#8217;s commitment to gold-standard science and evidence-based reviews.&#8221;
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon similarly rejected the idea that Makary was acting ideologically, telling Bloomberg the &#8220;assertions that the FDA is slow-walking this review for political purposes are baseless.&#8221;
The White House similarly backing Makary, telling The Daily Wire that Makary is working hard to &#8220;ensure that Americans have the best possible, Gold Standard Science study of mifepristone.&#8221; A White House official also pushed back on the claim that the study is being &#8220;slow walked,&#8221; saying that comprehensive and exhaustive reviews take time.
<div id="attachment_1012245" style="width: 866px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-stands-by-fdas-makary-after-accusations-he-slow-walked-vital-review-of-abortion-drugs/president-trump-announces-deal-with-pharmaceutical-company-astrazeneca-to-lower-drug-prices" rel="attachment wp-att-1012245"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1012245" class="wp-image-1012245 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240334352-856x576.jpg" alt="" width="856" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240334352-856x576.jpg 856w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240334352-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240334352-768x517.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2240334352.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 856px) 100vw, 856px" /></a>(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;The White House maintains the utmost confidence in Commissioner Makary, whose leadership at the FDA has delivered and continues to deliver one landmark victory for the American people after another, from cracking down on artificial ingredients in our food supply to conducting the first safety review of baby formula in decades,&#8221; Deputy White House Press Secretary Kush Desai said. &#8220;Uninformed attacks against Commissioner Makary from individuals outside the Administration will not change these facts.”
But a number of high-profile pro-life leaders view the matter differently. They insist Kennedy and Makary promised a timely review of the abortion drugs, and, in their view, wasted time means more babies killed through abortion drugs, and more women harmed by their adverse effects.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the top pro-life groups in the United States, came out swinging on Tuesday morning with a statement condemning Makary, saying he should be &#8220;fired immediately&#8221; and accusing him of &#8220;undermining&#8221; the Trump-Vance pro-life agenda.
&#8220;The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk, empower abusers and trample state pro-life laws,&#8221; said the organization&#8217;s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser. &#8220;The FDA needs a new commissioner who will immediately reinstate in-person dispensing as it existed under President Trump’s first term and immediately conduct a comprehensive study.&#8221;
&#8220;Commissioner Makary is severely undermining President Trump and Vice President Vance’s pro-life credentials and their position that states should have the right to enact and enforce pro-life protections,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Makary must go.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R.), who has been particularly vocal throughout the second Trump administration about the need to examine abortion drugs, also slammed Makary on Tuesday, saying that the Bloomberg report suggests the FDA &#8220;lied&#8221; to him and other members of Congress.
&#8220;FDA needs to stop dithering &amp; reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails,&#8221; Hawley said. &#8220;Nothing less is acceptable.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW report saying FDA lied to me and other members of Congress &amp; is not actively reviewing the chemical abortion drug at all. FDA needs to stop dithering &amp; reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails. Nothing less is acceptable <a href="https://t.co/33LVP5U1aL">https://t.co/33LVP5U1aL</a>
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1998381095231099315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
A pro-life leader who has engaged in conversations with the White House on the topic shared with The Daily Wire that the Tuesday report shattered the confidence of pro-life organizations advocating for the review, confirming inklings of delays that they had already heard.
“I don’t think Senator Hawley is alone in his concerns,&#8221; the leader shared.
Lila Rose, a well-known pro-life activist who heads the pro-life organization Live Action, warned in a <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/1998429557909565477">post</a> on X: &#8220;If Dr Makary will not act as head of the FDA to protect children and mothers he should be fired. Under his watch abortion pills kill preborn children and endanger women and the study he promised is nowhere to be found. End mail order abortion. Ban the abortion pill now!&#8221;
SBA Pro-Life America cites peer-reviewed research that found three-quarters of emergency room visits within 30 days after a woman took abortion drugs were coded as severe or as critical. They also point to studies that found more than one in ten women experience at least one severe adverse event when taking the abortion drugs, and point out that complications can include hemorrhaging, infections, sepsis, and, in some cases, death.
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reverse-this-wrong-republicans-push-rfk-to-fix-bidens-abortion-drug-mistakes">reported</a> in late November that 175 Republican lawmakers called on HHS to take “immediate action” to reinstate safety requirements on abortion drugs, highlighting the growing body of evidence showing that the drugs are causing severe and underreported harm to women, asking RFK Jr. and Makary to “at a minimum, reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.”
Until 2023, the FDA required abortion drugs to be administered to women under a doctor’s supervision. Under President Joe Biden, that and other safety standards were removed, which the Biden White House justified by citing the coronavirus pandemic.
“The need for urgent investigation and review of this drug comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris administration’s egregious action to remove critical safeguards that once applied to abortion drugs, and the FDA’s approval of a new abortion drug generic in September 2025,” wrote the lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN).
“Under your leadership, HHS and FDA can reverse this wrong,” they conclude. “We urge you to immediately reinstate the REMS requiring in-person dispensing of mifepristone and to expedite the promised review by the FDA into the dangers of abortion drugs.”

Marty Makary

White House Stands By FDA Director Amid Accusations He Slow-Walked Vital Abortion Drug Review

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WASHINGTON—The Department of Health and Human Services took momentous action Wednesday to protect the rights of parents to know what medical procedures their children are being subjected to.
The department opened an investigation into a Midwestern school that allegedly illegally vaccinated a child, ignoring a religious exemption request the parents had submitted under state law. Additionally, HHS issued a &#8220;Dear Colleague&#8221; letter to health care providers emphasizing that federal law requires them to let parents access health information about their children. The department also ordered its Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to add a grant requirement noting that any funding recipients must comply with federal and state parental-consent laws for any &#8220;services or care provided to minors at HRSA-supported health centers as a condition of receiving Health Center Program funds.&#8221;
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in a statement Wednesday that HHS was &#8220;putting pediatric medical professionals on notice.&#8221;
&#8220;You cannot sideline parents,” the HHS secretary said. “When providers ignore parental consent, violate exemptions to vaccine mandates, or keep parents in the dark about their children’s care, we will act decisively. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect families and restore accountability.”
The action is particularly momentous given the progressive activist push in recent years to promote &#8220;Adolescent Medicine&#8221; — the idea that medical professionals should be able to give medical care to children without telling parents. In many blue states across the country, particularly under President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, activists were pushing the notion that young girls and boys struggling with their gender identity should be able to transition without their parents&#8217; knowledge or consent, or that young girls should be able to obtain abortions or other medical procedures their parents were unaware of.
HHS Office of Civil Rights Director Paula Stannard told The Daily Wire in a phone interview that the department was first made aware of &#8220;Adolescent Medicine&#8221; and its dangers through a report issued by &#8220;Do No Harm,&#8221; a group that fights back against gender ideology, and has raised many concerns about the medical community transitioning children without parental consent. Stannard called this activist push for &#8220;Adolescent Medicine&#8221; very &#8220;concerning,&#8221; particularly from her perspective and her role in enforcing HIPAA.
<div id="attachment_1009913" style="width: 927px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-to-investigate-midwestern-school-accused-of-vaccinating-child-against-parents-wishes/us-politics-trump-cabinet-12" rel="attachment wp-att-1009913"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1009913" class="wp-image-1009913 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2248985623-917x576.jpg" alt="" width="917" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2248985623-917x576.jpg 917w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2248985623-300x188.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2248985623-768x482.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2248985623.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 917px) 100vw, 917px" /></a>US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L) looks on as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 2, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Part of what the HIPAA rules outline are the rights that individuals and their personal representatives have with respect to their health information,&#8221; she noted. &#8220;And one of those rights is the right to access. Starting in the first Trump administration, we had begun an initiative to enforce the individual&#8217;s right to access of their medical records. And so when I saw this, I immediately decided and recommended to the secretary that we further emphasize this particular aspect of the privacy rule in our enforcement efforts under this initiative.&#8221;
The HHS Office of Civil Rights is reminding health care providers, in very plain terms, of a parent&#8217;s right to access their child&#8217;s health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, which states that a parent is the personal representative of their child and has the legal authority to make health care decisions for the child. In the department&#8217;s &#8220;Dear Colleague&#8221; letter, HHS emphasized that parents are indeed their children&#8217;s personal representatives and absolutely have the right of access to their child&#8217;s health information.
Additionally, the HHS Office of Civil Rights says it is initiating compliance reviews of many health care providers to make sure that parents are not just receiving their child&#8217;s health information, but are also receiving it in a timely manner.
&#8220;Both the president and the secretary are very focused on making sure that parents&#8217; rights are respected and enforced,&#8221; Stannard explained. &#8220;We are investigating the particular healthcare provider, as well as the state, to find out what the facts are and to make sure that the state and the providers understand what federal law requires with respect to parental rights and religious exemptions for vaccination or the vaccines for children program,&#8221; noting the investigation into the Midwestern school. 
HHS&#8217; Office for Civil Rights will be investigating whether the school, which it did not name, failed to comply with the requirements of the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC). It will also scrutinize how the state agency and the school district are processing religious exemption requests to make sure they are in compliance with state law as they interpret the Vaccines for Children Program — a program which Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary and CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill says should &#8220;never circumvent parents’ rights.&#8221;
“Secretary Kennedy’s decision to probe potential abuse of the VFC is a necessary step in restoring public trust in immunization policy,&#8221; O&#8217;Neill said Wednesday.

HHS Secretary Kennedy Holds News Conference On Synthetic Dyes In Food Supply

HHS To Investigate Midwestern School Accused Of Vaccinating Child Against Parents’ Wishes

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As a lawyer who represents detransitioners like Chloe Cole in medical malpractice cases and parents fighting for the right to notice and consent before public schools may socially transition their children, I am all too familiar with how bad science gets laundered in pediatric gender medicine. For the record, a detransitioner is an individual who medically transitioned but now identifies and presents as their natal sex.
Activists take over medical associations (most notably, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health or WPATH) and use the imprimatur of those organizations to justify providing children with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even irreversible surgeries. The unreliability of much of the medical literature on pediatric gender medicine makes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recent report, <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report">Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices</a>, a necessary development in the field. 
Here are ten key takeaways from the review.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Children who receive puberty blockers to keep them in a pre-pubescent state longer have marked deterioration of bone health. One-third of patients’ bone density scores exhibit osteoporosis of the hip, while one-fourth have osteoporosis of the spine. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A scientific review shows that the effect of puberty blockers on neurocognitive development is unknown, but there is “some evidence” that puberty blockers suppress children’s IQ scores. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Females who receive testosterone experience vaginal atrophy and other concerning medical symptoms, including one study showing “100% of vaginectomy specimens contained abnormal prostatic tissue growth.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">There is moderate and high certainty evidence of some incidence of “cardiovascular events” in women under twenty-six who received testosterone.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">If a male starts puberty blockers at Tanner Stage 2 (the initial stage of puberty) and goes on to take estrogen, he will almost always have the genitalia of a pre-pubescent or early puberty male.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A Swedish study from 2011 found that adults who had medically and surgically transitioned had 19 times the rate of suicide deaths and nearly three times the rate of all-cause mortality and inpatient psychiatric care compared to peers of the same sex and age group.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">While the precise detransition rate is not known, a British study revealed that one-fifth of patients stopped hormone treatment within five years and that half experienced detransition or regret.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">American, British, Dutch, and Swedish researchers each examined the mortality rates among trans-identified individuals relative to the general population, and while the rates varied, each study found significant increases in mortality among trans-identifying people, with the Swedish study showing that a transgender individual faced a 2.8 times higher risk of death than their age- and sex-matched peers.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The report concludes that it would be unethical to conduct a study on the effect of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on fertility because the “mechanism [of how this treatment interferes with fertility] is well-understood” and does not have to be established in a clinical trial.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A 2025 JAMA Pediatrics study showed that between 2018 and 2022, one in one thousand (0.1%) of American seventeen-year-olds received cross-sex hormones. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is, in absolute terms, a large number of children.</li>
</ol>
The review’s key points put the risks children face when undergoing transgender medical interventions in sharp focus. Do doctors explain to their minor patients that they may experience significant negative health outcomes years or even decades in the future? When children are warned, are they mature enough to appreciate the risk of long-term consequences? Are children asked to consider the possibility that they may not identify as transgender in the future? Are children led to examine how they might feel about the interventions they received if they do indeed detransition? (My work as a lawyer in detransition cases tells me the answer to all these questions is often “no.”)
Debates about pediatric transgender interventions have largely been framed in terms of politics (what are the major parties’ stances?), law (does the Constitution permit states to prohibit transgender interventions for children?), and even philosophy (what is a woman?). But the central question we all should be asking is whether these interventions work. HHS’s exhaustive review of the medical literature makes a compelling case that the medical risk to minors posed by puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries significantly outweighs any benefits these interventions might confer.
* * *
Jesse Franklin-Murdock is the Miles Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Liberty and a counsel at Dhillon Law Group Inc., where his practice areas include political law and civil rights.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
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Here Are My Ten Takeaways From The HHS Pediatric Gender Medicine Review

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