Axios

Several federal websites tracking climate science and health care issues like HIV prevention and transgender care were down as of Friday afternoon.

Why it matters: The sites included topics like contraception, transgender issues and climate change that President Trump and Republicans have repeatedly targeted.

After watching 6-plus hours of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifying before two Senate committees, I have no idea whether he'll be confirmed as HHS secretary — I could see it going either way.

• Yes, but: It was still incredibly interesting to watch Kennedy reintroduce himself after decades in the public eye, hear more about how he'd govern and, in some cases, read between the lines of what he wasn't saying.

The conditions are unthinkable — a mass casualty site on the frigid Potomac. The complexity of the operation, numbing.

• After America's deadliest airline crash in a generation, disaster crews turned to the painstaking tasks ahead: recovering every body, identifying each life lost, reuniting the dead with those they leave behind.

A trio of President Trump's most head-turning nominees to head key agencies appeared before senators on Thursday.

Why it matters: Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. all have a slew of past controversies — and are not guaranteed a smooth path through Senate confirmation.

Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance plans denied an average of 1 in 5 claims in 2023, with two carriers denying as many as 1 in 3, according to a KFF analysis.

Why it matters: Claim denials are one of consumers' chief complaints with their health insurance and can make it harder for people to pay their medical bills.

Health providers and researchers got a reprieve of sorts on Wednesday when the White House rescinded a memo that froze many federal funding sources. But the turnabout didn't entirely make clear what happens next.

The big picture: The whiplash from President Trump's executive orders and directives over the first week and a half of his term portends a tense four years for a heavily regulated sector that's very dependent on federal funding.

Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s first confirmation hearing threw off the expected sparks on Wednesday, but his exchanges with lawmakers didn't resolve key questions about how he'd perform as the nation's top health official.

Why it matters: Beyond flubbing basics on Medicare and Medicaid and making factual errors about the biggest programs he would oversee, the controversial nominee backtracked on past stands regarding vaccines and abortion and was vague on how closely he'd hew to President Trump's policies.

Only a single state — Maine — is funding its anti-tobacco efforts at or above the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended level, a new report finds.

Why it matters: Cigarette smoking has faded significantly over the past few decades but remains the country's leading cause of preventable deaths — and causes 1 in 5 of all U.S. deaths, according to the CDC.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued guidance Wednesday instructing federal agencies on how to carry out President Trump's executive order targeting transgender protections.

Why it matters: It's the latest in a series of moves aimed at stripping away civil rights and protections from transgender Americans in policies that will also greatly impact nonbinary people.