Sophie Gardner

Today’s Women Rule was my last edition. Next week, I’m moving to Politico’s health care team, where I’ll be taking over the CDC beat and writing the Health Care PM newsletter (!!) So grateful for the wonderful production team and to @teresawiltz for being a top-notch editor.

Interesting bit of Louisiana history: Ruston hosted German POWs captured from a WWII submarine. I saw a museum display about this. The submarine that the prisoners were on is in the museum.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants to drastically improve the way the federal government provides health care to tribes. Some leaders in tribal health are wondering when that will start. Story here: politico.com/news/2025/07/1…

New from @sophie_gardnerJ: Tribal leaders are starting to have doubts if HHS Secretary RFK Jr. will improve quality of health for tribes after Trump's budget only marginally boosted funding to IHS. politico.com/news/2025/07/1…

Senate panel advances Trump’s nominee to lead CDC ow.ly/pKWQ106ffXa

This morning in CDC news: – This year, the U.S. officially has the most measles cases on record since 1992. politico.com/news/2025/07/0… – The HELP committee voted to advance the nomination of Susan Monarez, Trump’s CDC director pick. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/0…

I’ve been in Atlanta covering the first ACIP meeting since Kennedy fired and replaced the panel’s members. It’s been an eventful two days. Here’s a recap, with @Gardner_LM politico.com/news/2025/06/2…

Kennedy’s vaccine panel votes to remove preservative long targeted by activists, w/@sophie_gardnerJ politi.co/3Tesibb via @politico

Cody Meissner pulling duty today teaching @CDCgov ACIP 101 to the new panel members about why they take a separate vote on Vaccines for Children eligibility.

I’m joining Morning Pulse! I will co-author it with @kelhoops. Sign up!! Here’s my first edition: politico.com/newsletters/po…

RFK Jr. promised he would not discourage vaccines or make the shots “difficult” to access during his confirmation hearings for the nation's top health official. Now that the longtime anti-vaccine activist has the job, he’s putting his promise to the test. politico.com/news/2025/06/1…

ICYMI last night: @sophie_gardnerJ, @amandasfriedman and I dove into @SecKennedy's ACIP picks, which include a longtime affiliate of the oldest U.S. anti-vaccine group, a paid expert witness against Merck in HPV litigation and mRNA opponents: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/0…

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to tackle the underlying causes of chronic disease in America. But he rarely mentions the nation's leading cause of preventable deaths: smoking. w/ @dannyn516: politico.com/news/2025/06/1…

NEW: HHS sent a document to lawmakers justifying the decision to remove the recommendation for Covid vaccination during pregnancy. A researcher cited in the document told POLITICO “the results of our manuscript were misinterpreted.” w/ @Gardner_LM politico.com/news/2025/06/1…

Scoop: HHS justifies decision to stop recommending Covid shots during pregnancy — with studies supporting their safety. W/@sophie_gardnerJ politi.co/3FS547z

Memorial Day marks the start of the swimming season. But this year, layoffs at HHS mean the federal team that works on water safety and drowning data analysis is gone. Story: politico.com/news/2025/05/2…

NEW: Partial CBO estimate released by GOP finds the Medicaid portions of the Republican megabill would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured. $625 billion in savings. politico.com/live-updates/2…

The Trump administration gutted dozens of congressionally mandated programs — including ones that screened coal miners for black lung and tracked cancer rates in firefighters — and knew they would face legal risks doing so. Latest with @AliceOllstein politico.com/news/2025/05/1…

NEW: We got our hands on a DOGE memo listing which CDC programs are required by law and warning of a "litigation risk" to cutting them. Dozens of those programs, tracking everything from IVF to cancer, have since been halted by layoffs. politico.com/news/2025/05/1… w @sophie_gardnerJ

On a private Zoom last week, anti-abortion groups previewed an effort they're calling "Rolling Thunder." Here's how they plan to pressure the FDA, Congress and courts to crack down on abortion pills. politico.com/news/2025/05/0…

A brief but illuminating Nature interview here with Jay Bhattacharya science.org/content/articl…