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American Academy of Pediatrics loses government funding after criticizing RFK Jr (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/health@lemmy.world
48 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including early identification of autism, made without prior notice to AAP

The US department of health and human services (HHS) has terminated several multi-million-dollar grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics following the association’s criticisms of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s policies.

The funding cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and early identification of autism, were first reported by the Washington Post and made without prior notice to the AAP.

In a statement to the Guardian, AAP CEO, Mark Del Monte, said: “AAP learned this week that seven grants to AAP under the US Department of Health and Human Services are being terminated.

“This vital work spanned multiple child health priorities, including reducing sudden infant death, rural access to health care, mental health, adolescent health, supporting children with birth defects, early identification of autism, and prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, among other topics.”

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[–] 59 points 10 months ago (20 children)

Looks like it's lawsuit time. Criticism of the government is protected speech...and any retribution by the government over said speech, is a violation of the 1st amendment. Case closed.

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  • [–] 22 points 10 months ago (9 children)

    Unfortunately it's not that simple since he packed the courts with his sycophants.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    It's a big ask to have them toss the actual Constitution out the window. Legally speaking, they don't have that authority. They can get away with grey area "interpretations"...but to overturn the Bill of Rights, is civil war level fuckery.

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  • [–] 15 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    A big ask? That is what their supreme court has being doing for quite som time now.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago* (3 children)

    Yeah I don’t get how people have convinced themselves despite all evidence that the US is still based on “laws” as the final authority, (not just laws as a tool of power).

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    It's like watching someone in an abusive relationship.

    "Don't worry guys, they'll follow the rules this time. Did they say they'll change? Well no, but I just know this time will be different."

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    It may be civil war fuckery, but they very much have the authority to decide how they want. They're the final arbiter of constitutionality and the way things are written they wouldn't be overturning the bill of rights but just telling us what it actually means. There's no one to correct them. No further appeal inside the law.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

    Except that nullifying the 1st amendment isn't exactly just a reinterpretation...it would be a complete reversal of its core meaning. That's why I said it's "civil war level fuckery". This was literally what the Founders started the war of independence over...the right to criticize the government, among other things detailed in the Bill of Rights. It's a pretty foundational concept.

    If the Supreme Court just decides the 1st amendment doesn't mean that anymore, then the 2nd amendment should be invoked.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Oh, I entirely agree with the severity and the "they are not supposed to do that"-ness of it. It's far from right.
    I'm just saying that there's nothing in the law or constitution that says they can't.

    In this case they'd just say something about the government having an overriding interest in financial management, and without direct evidence that funding was pulled as retaliation the claim doesn't pass the threshold for consideration.
    The court has used related reasoning to say that removal of books is speech by the government, and so you have no recourse when the government censors information in libraries.
    Or "ice needs to be racist to do their job, and that's more important than equal protection under the law".

    It's a fucked situation, but it's not new, and it's not illegal.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    Actually it isn't since this administration doesn't care about free speech unless they are the ones talking.

    The whole free speech thing they were getting so upset about was a lie all along. Who would of thought people who promote hate under the guise of freedom were being disingenuous.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (7 children)

    It doesn't matter if this administration doesn't care about the Constitution...it still applies.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    I hate to break it to you but the current administration has repeatedly violated the constitution without a slap on the wrist so far. Laws are only as good as they are enforced and we are seeing that there are no consequences for violating the law or constitution for this administration.

    I do agree it still applies, it is just the consequences are not happening anymore.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    The justice system doesn't move quickly, and unfortunately when it's the president breaking the law, there's only so much that can be done as long as they're in office.

    But that doesn't mean there will be no consequences for what they're doing. Trump himself, may avoid some of those consequences by hiding behind presidential authority...but the people who are breaking the law on his orders, will not be so fortunate. Almost no one from his 1st administration got out without scars. The only difference this time around, is the scale of the crimes being committed. Make no mistake, it's definitely worse...and the consequences will be much steeper. It's basically legal suicide to work for this administration. The bell will toll for all of them.

    As for Trump himself, he's still facing the same legal challenges that got put aside when he won the election. Those trials will start up again as soon as he's out of office. And new charges are definitely going to be added to the pile. The only way he doesn't wind up in prison, is if he dies before they convict him.

    I just hope they don't drag their feet again, like they did after 2020. They can't afford to waste time. Every single loophole that he's using to push his agenda through, needs to be closed before the following election cycle, or some other fascist asshole is just going to try it all over again.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    I think you make a lot of good points. Justice does move slowly and I am pretty impatient at this point.

    I think classism is one of the biggest issue we face and not holding the President accountable creates a blatant two tier justice system where politicians and are rarely held accountable and the President is never held accountable.

    We also see this with wealthy people and our society even has clever names like "fuck you" money where you no longer have to listen to anything or follow the rules if you have enough money.

    The thing is, we should be holding people in power to a higher level of accountability not lower or even worse not at all. Until our culture changes in this regard we will see people taking advantage of their privilege with impunity.

    Trump and company are actually playing by the rules of their class and just taking this privilege to its logical conclusion. If you can't be stopped, why stop.

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  • [–] -1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    No, it doesn’t.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (2 children)

    Of course it does. Just because someone breaks the law, doesn't mean the law no longer exists.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

    It doesn’t apply if no-one applies it.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    Oh. Did the entire judicial system disappear recently? Or, do Republicans suddenly have control over more than 2/3rds of state legislatures? Has the administration started mass executions of lawmakers, judges and military officials that disagree with them?

    Because unless some or all of those things happen, there is still a system in place to push back on whatever Trump is doing. And there are still people in positions of power to keep that system from collapsing.

    What people need to do, now more than ever, is vote in the next mid-terms. It would be even better if good people who oppose what Trump is doing, chose to run for office in local and state elections, as well. That way folks have better options to vote for.

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    • [–] 25 points 10 months ago

    HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told the Washington Post that the grants were terminated because they no longer align with departmental priorities.

    Yeah, they're trying to save lives and protect children's health. The CDC no longer supports those goals.

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    [–] 20 points 10 months ago (17 children)

    I sometimes wonder how the rest of the Kennedy's feel about how RFK Jr. turned out.

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  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    You don’t have to wonder; they think he’s a disgrace. They say it publicly, basically every month, for years: https://www.axios.com/2025/09/05/robert-f-kennedys-nephew-calls-resign

    Literally his entire family came together to protest him.

    One sad thing thing is, initially, RFK’s entry into politics was on a good point: the Democrats and Republicans are tyrannical gatekeepers. The pitch was that they filter good candidates, manipulate primaries and squash independent parties/candidates. Most on Lemmy would strongly agree, hence RFK gained a lot of traction for an independent.

    …But he went down the anti-vax rabbit hole.

    I guess he’s always been down that rabbit hole, but we ended up in the absolute worst case scenario where that’s basically his entire policy now, smothering the better anti-corporate sentiments he has.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Probably gives them a real headache.

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  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    Turned out? In college he hung out around animal corpse's and kept roadkill in the fridge.
    He was never a good guy.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    It's a figure of speech.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (5 children)

    Yes. I'm well aware of that.

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  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago (4 children)

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    • [–] 12 points 10 months ago

    I foresee them claiming that autism rates are down (after defunding diagnosis programs)

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    [–] 9 points 10 months ago

    The Pedo Party loves doing anything it can to harm Americans, especially children.

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    [–] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    When is that stupid motherfucker ever going to die from the worm eating his brain?

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    • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    Snowflake :)

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    [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    You want high school politics, you got high school politics. Bunch of bullies and losers that never grew up.

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    [+] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
    [deleted]
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    [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    are you "there yet", America?

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