THE GOP CONGRESS DID THIS TO WE THE PEOPLE

Another political Friday night massacre. But this one, like so many in the Trump administration, is directed at the American people. The CDC is dead. Or is it? Letters of termination followed by letters of ‘never mind.’ Which is it? Does anyone know? Does any official in the administration talk to anyone except those on their social media feeds? Trump warned he would seek to ensure the harshest effects of the shutdown would only affect Democratic priorities. “We’re only cutting Democrat programs,” Trump said Thursday during a Cabinet meeting. He has met the enemy. And it is the American people. Here’s what’s happened over at HHS in the last few months… Sweeping budget cuts and canceled billions in R&D. Mass layoffs and reorganizations that erased whole teams tackling clear health threats. Without scientific backing, withdrew Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant people. Gutted the agency’s vaccine advisory panel, firing respected experts and replacing them with ideological loyalists. Installed a vocal Covid vaccine critic to chair a safety subcommittee, reopening the long-debunked vaccines-and-autism debate. Hired a discredited anti-vaccine researcher who experimented on autistic children to trawl government data and relitigate settled science. Pressed for access to private data to fuel that research. Undermined the agency’s own epidemiologists during the Texas measles response. Downplayed a workplace shooting that left CDC staff traumatized. Announced sweeping policy changes on social media with no data to back them and accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of a “pay-to-play scheme” for daring to dissent. Most recently, RFK Jr. et al blew past a self-imposed September deadline to figure out the cause of autism and, without compelling scientific evidence, blamed pregnant mothers’ use of Tylenol for the condition. At the same time, a horde of experienced officials have quit or been pushed out and replaced with anti-vaccine allies and loyalists lacking public health experience or scientific credentials. Neither Kennedy nor the CDC’s acting director, Jim O’Neill — a recent political appointee with little experience — had commented publicly on the sweeping firings by Saturday afternoon. O’Neill’s most recent post to X was a photo of what he said was a bald eagle flying over the Capitol, taken from his Washington, D.C., office. He captioned it, “Good morning we are going to win.” You know who is responsible for this and all the other insane actions by Trump Cabinet members crippling America? You.