Happy Monday! Washington kicks off the week still grappling with a government shutdown, even as health policy fights intensify across agencies, Congress, and the campaign trail. Here is what we are tracking:

In this week’s Nimitz Health:

• Federal News: Government shutdown, DHS funding standoff, ACA subsidy negotiations, and RFK Jr.’s role in vaccines, addiction policy, and drug pricing

• State News: Vaccine politics reshaping GOP primaries and public momentum for alcohol labeling

• Industry News: Obesity drug deals, baby formula recalls, protein trends, smart pills, and emerging science

WHO’S HAVING EVENTS THIS WEEK?

Tuesday, February 3rd

• *Senate HELP: “Hearings to Examine Modernizing the National Institutes of Health, Focusing on Faster Discoveries and More Cures” at 10am. Watch here.

• *House Energy & Commerce: “Common Schemes, Real Harm: Examining Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid” at 10:30am. Watch here.

*Will be covered by Nimitz Health. Please email [email protected] if you would like a readout of any other hearings.

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NEWS DRIVING THE WEEK

Federal News

Washington returns this week still in a partial government shutdown, with health policy collateral damage mounting. House leaders say they can pass a short-term fix as soon as Tuesday, but only by relying largely on Republican votes. The Senate-passed deal would extend DHS funding for just two weeks, kicking off intense negotiations over ICE reforms that have become the central sticking point. While immigration policy is driving the standoff, the dysfunction is slowing progress across the health agenda, from telehealth extensions to broader health care negotiations.

Even outside the shutdown, bipartisan health talks remain stalled. Enhanced ACA subsidies expired earlier this month, and Democrats are forcefully opposing a GOP push to eliminate zero-premium marketplace plans, warning that even minimal premiums could reduce coverage. Other items—such as PBM rebate pass-through requirements and temporary telehealth flexibilities—are caught in the churn of budget brinkmanship and leadership uncertainty.

Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s expanding influence inside the administration continues to reshape federal health policy. His reconstitution of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee is signaling a sharp pivot toward prioritizing safety investigations over efficacy, alarming public health experts who warn the shift could undermine vaccination confidence. The move has intensified backlash from medical groups and deepened internal debate over whether to engage with Kennedy or keep their distance.

Kennedy’s role is also expanding beyond vaccines. President Trump signed an executive order creating the “Great American Recovery Initiative,” placing Kennedy at the center of a new White House effort to coordinate substance use and addiction programs across agencies. At the same time, the administration’s TrumpRx drug pricing platform has been delayed past its expected launch, raising questions about legal hurdles, consumer usefulness, and whether HHS will need to establish new regulatory guardrails to move it forward.

State News

Health politics are increasingly shaping state-level power struggles. In Louisiana, Sen. Bill Cassidy’s public questioning of RFK Jr. during confirmation hearings has turned him into a prime target for MAHA-aligned activists seeking to unseat him in the GOP primary. With Louisiana’s closed primary system amplifying ideological challenges, vaccines and public health orthodoxy are emerging as defining fault lines in state Republican politics.

Abroad, developments in Europe are informing U.S. state-level conversations. UK officials are weighing mandatory alcohol health warnings, following Ireland’s delayed rollout of cancer-risk labeling. Though no decisions have been made, the push is emboldening public health advocates and drawing close scrutiny from state regulators and industry groups alike.

Industry News

Health and life sciences companies are navigating a volatile mix of political risk, regulatory scrutiny, and shifting consumer behavior. AstraZeneca made a major bet on the booming obesity drug market with a $4.7 billion licensing deal in China, underscoring both the scale of opportunity around GLP-1s and the company’s willingness to deepen exposure to a geopolitically sensitive market.

Nestlé and Danone are contending with global backlash after contamination linked to a specialty baby formula ingredient triggered recalls across dozens of countries, reigniting scrutiny of supply chains and the health value of optional formula add-ins. At the same time, protein has surged to the center of food marketing, driven by wellness trends, new federal dietary guidance, and the rise of weight-loss drugs that heighten concern about muscle loss—fueling price increases for key inputs like whey.

Emerging health technologies are also testing new boundaries. Researchers are touting ingestible “smart pills” that can confirm medication adherence, promising benefits for high-risk conditions while raising concerns about privacy, autonomy, and scalability.

Separately, new AstraZeneca genetic research linking 22 specific gene variants to severe outcomes from common viruses like Epstein–Barr is fueling interest in personalized risk prediction, even as scientists caution that clinical applications remain years away.

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