2026-04-17 02:16:30
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would overhaul a preventive medicine team that risks making screenings more difficult.
“[The US Preventive Services Task Force] has been lackadaisical and negligent for 20 years,” Kennedy told members of the House Ways and Means Committee. “We’re going to have, for the first time, transparency.”
As my colleagues Anna Merlan, Julia Métraux, and Kiera Butler have reported, Kennedy’s transformation of the HHS has been extensive and relies on rejectingdecades of scientific, evidence-based research on health.
Kennedy said on Thursday he would appoint new members with “a clear mission” but did not elaborate on whether he would remove any current members. Five of the 16 panel members’ terms expired last December, but Kennedy has not filled those roles.
If the new task force stops recommendations on a certain preventive drug or screening, insurance companies would no longer be required to cover it under the Affordable Care Act, effectively taking millions of Americans off vital health interventions.
This may be the clearest sign that Kennedy will continue to dismantle the health panel. In July 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that the health secretary planned to dismiss all 16 members because they were too “woke.” Due to the HHS’ cancellations, the panel has not met in a year; it usually meets three times annually. The members also did not submit their congressionally-mandated report for 2025.
According to Politico, the task force is working on recommendations related to autism screening in children, medication to reduce the risks of breast cancer, and counseling on early allergen introduction to prevent food allergies in infants. Kennedy has previously voiced enthusiasm for focusing on autism and food allergies in children.
2026-04-17 01:41:40
About a quarter of Americans suffer from seasonal allergies. And researchers at the nonprofit Climate Central say that if you’re feeling snifflier than normal this spring, you aren’t alone—and climate change and pollution might be behind your personal postnasal drip.
In 173 of the 198 cities Climate Central studied, the freeze-free growing season (that is, the time of year when plants are capable of, among other things, producing pollen) lengthened by an average of 21 days since 1970. In some places, like Nashville, the freeze-free growing season is now a full month longer than it used to be, and one 2022 study suggests that by the end of the century, it’ll be two months longer than it is now. And as climate change causes more-frequent extreme weather events, like hurricanes, that also means more mold and more respiratory distress.
On top of all that, thanks to changes in temperature and rainfall, some plant species, like ragweed, are moving north, and exposing people to new allergens—which means that some of us who haven’t experienced allergies before might experience symptoms for the first time this year.
“That means more patients are reacting to more plant species, for longer,” immunologist Rebecca Saff recently wrote in Harvard’s Climate Brief. “Even people with historically mild seasonal allergies are noticing sharper symptom peaks, and medications that once kept things under control are not working as well as they once did.”
So, what can the watery-eyed, scratchy-throated masses do? Saff suggests starting to take your allergy medications earlier in the year than you normally would, since your spring and fall symptomatic periods might not be so predictable anymore. She also recommends using the National Allergy Bureau’s dashboard to get accurate data on allergen levels in your area. Stock up on that Zyrtec.
2026-04-17 00:15:12
On January 13, Aliya Rahman was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when ICE agents smashed the glass out of her car windows at a Minneapolis intersection, pulled her out of her car, hauled her down the street by her arms and legs, and detained her. Rahman—a disabled Bangladeshi-American woman with a traumatic brain injury and autism—blacked out from her injuries on the floor of the Whipple detention center. When she woke up in the emergency room, she learned that she was being treated for “injuries consistent with assault,” according to her lawyers.
Now, Rahman plans to ensure her ordeal comes at a cost to the agency that harmed her. On April 16th, Rahman’s legal team filed a federal tort claim against ICE, seeking monetary restitution for their client’s treatment at the agency’s hands. It’s a tactic more and more people are using to seek accountability for mistreatment and violence done by federal agents.
“I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights, and never charged with a crime,” Rahman said. Since her detention, ICE’s official X account has posted video footage of the moments before her arrest, implying that she has broken the law: “18 U.S.C. § 111 criminalizes impeding or interfering with federal officers.”
It’s a “blatant misinformation campaign,” Rahman’s lawyer, Jessica Gingold, told Mother Jones, adding that because of these posts, Rahman has received threats and harassment online. Her client, she said, was “going about her daily life, trying to go to the doctor, and ended up unconscious on the floor in a detention center.”
Under US law, it is near-impossible for a person to file a civil rights lawsuit against an individual federal agent, the way someone who’s been hurt by a local or state police officer could. But an increasing number of people hurt by ICE and DHS agents are filing tort claims—demanding monetary compensation for what has been done to them—through a byzantine process governed by the Federal Tort Claims Act.
“Under the Federal Tort Claims Act we can file a claim for monetary damages. That’s what we can ask for,” Gingold, of the MacArthur Justice Center, told Mother Jones. “We can’t ask for systems change under the FTCA. But we do feel strongly that [if] more people do this, demand their due for the harm that’s been wreaked over this country…that itself could make systems change happen, right?”
An ICE agent told the Washington Post that the agency received 400 tort claims in fiscal year 2025. Among the claimants: an undocumented immigrant in Chicago seeking $1 million in damages after he said he was body-slammed and put in a chokehold by a DHS agent, a 79-year-old US citizen in California who is seeking $50 million after federal agents shoved him to the ground and broke his ribs, and the wife of a farmworker who died of injuries sustained during an ICE raid is seeking $47 million.
And Rahman, now, is likely to be one of the most public faces of this tactic: since her arrest, she’s continued to speak up for immigration reform, attended the State of the Union as Ilhan Omar’s guest—and she’s been arrested a second time, for standing up during the State of the Union. (She was released without charge.)
“Our nation lacks rules and accountability around what a person claiming to be law enforcement can do to another human being, and I am not afraid to keep working on this problem even after ICE is gone,” Rahman said in February.
But though ICE and DHS are facing billions of dollars in potential tort claims, the process is likely to be slow. Filing a tort claim, Gingold said, is relatively simple: you start by filling out a form. “What’s required is not much: you just need to be able to say, this is the harm that happened.” Then, the agency has six months to agree to pay, or contest your claim. Often, though, they ignore tort claims altogether, Gingold said. If that six-month clock runs out, then a person harmed by an ICE agent would have the opportunity to take the agency to court.
“If the agency gets enough of these and understands that treating people inhumanely, ignoring disability, targeting people for their race is costly, that can lead to changes in how they function,” Gingold said.
Reporter Amanda Moore was on the ground and captured video footage of officers forcefully removing Rahman from her vehicle during the arrest.
2026-04-17 00:03:57
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted a violent and fictional Bible passage nearly word-for-word from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in his Wednesday night worship service at the Pentagon.
In the film, Samuel L. Jackson’s hitman character Jules Winnfield recites the Bible passage just before he and his partner shoot and kill their boss’ unarmed business partner. Jackson’s monologue frames Winnfield’s violence as a “righteous” vengeance.
Hegseth told attendees that the prayer was recited by one of the teams involved in the combat search and rescue mission to save the two Air Force crew members shot down in Iran earlier this month.
“They call it CSAR 25:17,” Hegseth said, where CSAR stands for “Combat Search and Rescue”. The Biblical citation 25:17 is associated with Ezekiel 25:17, the Bible passage the Pulp Fiction monologue is based on.
Here’s what Hegseth recited in full on Wednesday:
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
The passage appears to be a thinly veiled threat of continued violence against Iran, especially as Vance told the audience how “the Lord’s word” will influence future military decisions, such as the US blockade on Iranian ports in retaliation to Iran refusing to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
As my colleague Kiera Butler highlighted when President Donald Trump nominated Hegseth for secretary of defense in November 2024, Hegseth published a book in 2020, American Crusade, which considered the destruction of Muslim holy sites to reclaim them for Christianity. He also has tattoos that signify the Christian crusades.
And as I wrote last month, throughout his time in office, Hegseth has explicitly incorporated religion into his work at the Pentagon, hosting monthly evangelical worship services and inviting clergy members from his Christian denomination to preach.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Hegseth’s injection of religion into the Pentagon and military policies is justified.
2026-04-16 22:37:00
On Wednesday, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner apologized for using the r-word in an article in the Maine Monitor, saying that he is “sorry that I said it” and “I am endeavoring to improve every single day.”
Platner used the r-word in the context of dismissing concerns that people had with his tattoo, a Totenkopf, a symbol that continues to be embraced by Neo-Nazis.
On Monday, I was the first reporter to highlight the problematic aspect of Platner using the r-word to dismiss concerns about the tattoo in the other article published over the weekend. As I highlighted, the term is very offensive to many disabled people, and just because President Donald Trump has an affinity for the term that doesn’t mean other politicians should as well. Platner also previously used the r-word on Reddit, along with making racist comments.
Considering how the Trump administration has targeted disabled people—including enacting brutal cuts to Medicaid, which will alter the services some disabled people receive—some people may argue that others are overreacting to Platner’s use of the r-word. However, having better standards than President Donald Trump has for himself is a good thing when trying to play a role in flipping the Senate to Democratic power.
I asked Platner’s campaign on Monday before publication about why Platner was still using the r-word, despite disabled people calling out the offensiveness of using the term for years. I have still not received a response.
In his apology at a press gaggle, Platner did not highlight what work he has done to engage with disabled Mainers or what work that he plans to do. He did, however, say that he continues “to try to be better.”
2026-04-16 19:30:00
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
As scientists confirmed that March was the United States’ most abnormally hot month in recorded history, dozens of climate deniers gathered to promote misinformation and tout their newfound influence on federal policy.
At a conference hosted by the prominent science-denying think tank the Heartland Institute last week, a crowd of mostly middle-aged men in suits claimed the world is finally waking up to the idea that the climate crisis does not exist. “I feel wonderful,” James Taylor, president of the Heartland Institute, said in an interview. “The truth is winning out.”
The clearest sign of the crowd’s rising power was the gathering’s keynote speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whom President Donald Trump is also reportedly considering for attorney general. “It is a day to celebrate vindication,” Zeldin said on Wednesday morning.
In previous administrations, Zeldin said, a “cabal” of elites promoted climate science to further their agenda. Now, “we aren’t just following blind obedience to whatever the dire, doom-and-gloom prediction of the day is,” he said.
There is scientific consensus that global warming is real and urgent, and caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
“Part of the mentality of these folks is that they present themselves as victims,” said Naomi Oreskes. “Of course, that’s completely preposterous.”
As people entered the event, held in the basement of a hotel near the White House, they were greeted by wares promoting climate denial. “Good news,” read a banner outside the main ballroom, erected by the CO2 Coalition, a climate-denying nonprofit that co-sponsored the conference. “There is no climate crisis.”
A table overflowed with displays reading “CO2 is a lifesaver,” pamphlets titled “Fossil fuels are the greenest energy source” and “Challenging ‘net zero’ with science,” and children’s books falsely claiming the acceleration of sea level rise is insignificant. Baskets held buttons proclaiming “Unashamed about my carbon footprint,” as well as stress balls resembling tiny Earths that read: “Don’t stress. There is no climate crisis.”
The event convened climate skeptics and outright deniers alike. While some incorrectly claimed global warming did not exist, others conceded that it was happening but falsely said it was not known to be human-caused—or an emergency.
“I believe humans have played a role in climate change. That is a far cry from saying I believe in a ‘climate crisis’,” said Taylor, the Heartland president, in an emailed response to a question about the scientific consensus around global warming. “It is important not to conflate two very different assertions.”
But presenters seemed to agree on some common false themes: Carbon emissions are harmless or even beneficial, renewable energy is destroying the planet, big tech and the financial sector are collaborating to undermine fossil fuels, and climate science and policy were pushed by powerful “leftist” politicians and media figures.
Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science at Harvard University who has studied climate denialism for 20 years, said rightwing think tanks like the Heartland Institute have long painted themselves as underdogs being squashed by the elite.
“Part of the mentality of these folks is that they present themselves as victims,” she said. “Of course, that’s completely preposterous, because they’re not victims, and in fact many of these people are affiliated with very powerful groups and have been supported by Fortune 500 companies.”
She noted that the Heartland Institute has received funding from Big Oil companies including Shell and ExxonMobil. It has also taken contributions from the Mercers, a family of Republican megadonors.
When the Guardian asked Taylor about where Heartland currently obtains funding, he said the question was “curious and disappointing.” “We are funded by individuals who believe in what we advocate for: We believe in freedom, we believe in affordable energy,” he said.
In an email, Taylor added: “It has been nearly 20 years since Heartland received any money from oil companies. Even then, it was only a tiny percentage of our funding. I would gladly accept oil company funding again.”
He added that Big Oil “openly supports the UN climate agenda and gives far more to climate activist causes than they ever gave to Heartland,” and claimed green groups’ funding was “shady.”
With Trump in the White House, groups like the Heartland Institute, the CO2 Coalition, and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)—a rightwing group that complains about “climate exaggeration” and which also co-sponsored the event—are enjoying unprecedented influence.
The audience for a youth-focused panel, a protest organizer noted, “was almost entirely geriatric white men who will not live to see the effects of climate change.”
“Twenty years ago it would have been shocking…for the EPA administrator to take seriously a group of people whose positions are so patently at odds with all of the scientific evidence,” said Oreskes. “But essentially, climate deniers are in charge now.”
During the president’s last term, a founder of the Heartland Institute met with Trump at the White House to advise him on the withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Last year, a representative said it has “very strong affiliations” with Trump officials, DeSmog reported.
The group also contributed to Project 2025, an ultra-conservative guidebook for Trump’s second term, and the president has made good on some of the organization’s top priorities. Among them: the repeal of the “endangerment finding,” the legal determination that serves as the basis for virtually all US climate regulations. CFACT’s president, Craig Rucker, mentioned the rollback while introducing Lee Zeldin on Wednesday, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
CFACT, too, has had apparent influence on the Trump White House. Last year, the Trump administration cancelled funding for a California offshore wind project after receiving a request from the group. The CO2 Coalition’s founder also helped form a White House committee to question climate science during Trump’s first term. And last month, the group successfully nominated an ophthalmologist with no background in air pollution science to serve on a crucial air pollution committee, the New York Times reported.
Though conference attenders widely claimed their star was rising, polls indicate that the vast majority of Americans believe in climate change. That is especially true for young people, including 42 percent of young Republicans, according to one recent survey.
Asked about polls showing most Americans believe in the climate crisis, Taylor pointed to a 2019 survey showing most Americans were unwilling to pay even $10 per month in higher electric bills to fight global warming. “Americans lose very little sleep over global warming,” he said. But a Thursday panel, “Bringing Youth into the Climate Realist Fold,” indicated deniers have anxiety about young people’s climate concerns.
“My suggestion is to capitalize on the popularity of climate realism influencers to engineer a hashtag movement, like ‘Me Too’, but for truth,” said CO2 Coalition member Anika Sweetland, who obtained a bachelor of science in climate studies and claims to be a climate scientist, and who has little discernible presence on Instagram or TikTok. “Something like ‘hashtag fact check’ or ‘hashtag my climate wake up’.”
Another panelist, Lucy Biggers, 36, who claimed she made the Dakota Access Pipeline fight at Standing Rock “go viral,” explained that she once considered herself a climate activist because she was “indoctrinated into the groupthink.”
“Young people have been so misled,” said Biggers, who serves as head of social media at the Free Press.
The youth-focused panel was disrupted by activists with Climate Defiance. “Yo, how’s it going my fellow youths,” one disrupter, sporting a suit and a backwards hat, shouted sarcastically before being shoved out of the ballroom. “There’s no such thing as fossil fuel-caused climate change!”
In an interview, an organizer of the protest who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation said the action was intended to ensure the panel was not “allowed to go undisrupted,” especially because the audience “was almost entirely geriatric white men who will not live to see the effects of climate change the way that my generation will.”
“The message that we wanted to bring was that climate change denial is not just a matter of a difference of opinions,” said the organizer, adding that they do not believe efforts to spread climate denial to youth will be effective. “These people think that they are untouchable and that they can spread this kind of misinformation entirely unchecked? No.”
