Episode #51 Deep Dive – Yet Another Health Care Election...
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
››› Trump wants us to see him as Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself looking an awful lot like Jesus Christ healing a sick person while eagles, military angels and fighter jets, and fireworks fill the sky, and a vet, a soldier, a nurse, and others look on reverently.
He posted the image shortly after posting a vicious screed against Pope Leo XIV, calling the pontiff “terrible for Foreign Policy” and “WEAK on crime.” The attack on the pope appeared to be in response to his Palm Sunday homily at the end of March where he said, “Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
The moves drew immediate criticism from around the globe and Trump later deleted it. When confronted about it by a reporter who asked him if he posted the depiction, Trump claimed he thought it showed him as a Red Cross doctor. You can watch that exchange HERE.
Afterwards, JD Vance jumped in to popesplain the pope, saying he thinks “it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” Republican Leader Mike Johnson jumped in to say that he was “taken a little bit aback” by the pope’s remarks.
Pope Leo responded by saying he has “no fear of the Trump administration.”
››› Callie Means says his sister “is one of the smartest and most eloquent doctors in the country”
Last week, RFK Jr. adviser Callie Means, brother of health influencer Casey Means, Trump’s choice for Surgeon General, denied that his sister’s nomination is under threat during an interview with The Hill’s News Nation show:
Senior White House adviser Calley Means said Thursday that “conversations are ongoing” amid doubts over whether his sister, surgeon general nominee Casey Means, has enough votes in the Senate for confirmation.
Calley Means was asked during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill” whether the White House still expected Casey Means to be the next surgeon general after President Trump recently indicated he was open to withdrawing her nomination.
“We do expect it here at the White House,” he told host Blake Burman. “Casey is one of the smartest and most eloquent doctors in the country, and at this moment, we don’t need a doctor who is a defender of the status quo.”
As a reminder, Casey Means does not hold a licence to practice medicine and never completed her residency.
››› The Trump administration now wants federal workers’ medical records
The Trump administration is quietly seeking unprecedented access to medical records for millions of federal workers and retirees, and their families.
A brief notice from the Office of Personnel Management could dramatically change which personally identifiable medical information the agency obtains, giving it the power to see prescriptions employees had filled or what treatment they sought from doctors. The regulation would require 65 insurance companies that cover more than 8 million Americans — including federal workers, retired members of Congress, mail carriers, and their immediate family members — to provide monthly reports to OPM with identifiable health data on their members.
The proposal is prompting unease from insurers as well as health policy and legal experts, who are concerned about the legality of OPM acquiring such a sweeping database of sensitive health information, and the agency’s ability to safeguard it.
OPM could use the data to analyze costs and improve the system, said Sharona Hoffman, a health law ethicist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
“But,” she said, “they are going to get very, very detailed and granular data about everything that happens. The concern here is the more information they have, they could use it to discipline or target people who are not cooperating politically.”
››› Trump’s proposed 2027 budget would further eviscerate HHS
Trump’s recently-released 2027 budget cuts over 10% from NIH and over 12% from HHS as a whole. POLITICO reports that it’s likely dead on arrival in Congress and probably isn’t even supported by the agency head tasked to defend it:
White House budget director Russ Vought isn’t done trying to cut the National Institutes of Health’s funding, but Congress isn’t taking him seriously anymore.
Vought released a proposal last week to slash the 2027 budget for the world’s largest funder of health research by 10 percent, down from 40 percent last year. It’s unlikely Congress or the agency’s head will listen to him.
Lawmakers rejected Vought’s first big cut in the spending bill they passed in February and already promised to reject the smaller one this year. [...]
The health research agency’s director, Jay Bhattacharya, is expected to defend the budget to Congress, but it’s unclear whether he stands behind cuts to his agency any more than Congress does. While other agencies, like the State Department, defied Congress and implemented Vought’s cost-cutting vision by not spending their budgets last year, Bhattacharya spent every dollar Congress gave him.
››› A new poll shows using cuts to health care to pay for the war in Iran is wildly unpopular
An April 9th Navigator poll shows that 70% of voters, including 68% of Independents and Non-MAGA Republicans and 46% of MAGA voters, oppose Congress cutting health care to provide $200 billion in funding for the war:
Perhaps the most shocking thing about the poll is that there are still 46% of Trump supporters who would cut health care to pay for a war they supposedly never wanted when they voted for him in 2024.
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #51
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Liberal Chris Taylor cruises to Wisconsin Supreme Court win
Reuters: Trump’s AI image of himself as Jesus-like figure follows feud with Pope Leo
The Washington Post: Lambasting Pope Leo, Trump risks alienating conservative Catholics
The Washington Post: Trump post appearing to depict him as Jesus removed amid backlash
Video of Trump claiming he thought the image was of him as a “doctor” is here
The New York Times: Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology
The Hill: Mike Johnson ‘taken aback’ by pope’s comments about war
The Hill: Casey Means’s brother says ‘conversations happening’ in surgeon general confirmation process
KFF: Trump’s Personnel Agency Is Asking for Federal Workers’ Medical Records
POLITICO: Trump is still trying to DOGE the NIH. Republicans are tired.
April 9 Navigator poll: The Conflict With Iran
POLITICO: RFK Jr. launches midterm travel push to shore up MAHA support
POLITICO: Poll: The battle for MAHA that could sway the midterms
POLITICO: More Americans doubt vaccine safety than trust it, POLITICO Poll finds