• District of Columbia: Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that it had accidentally fired "several" agency employees who were working on the ongoing H5N1 bird flu outbreak and are now working to reverse these terminations. "Although several positions supporting [bird flu efforts] were notified of their terminations [earlier this month], we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters," a USDA spokesperson said, adding that the agency "continues to prioritize the response to highly pathogenic avian influenza." Some Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about the layoffs at USDA, saying that they could affect the government's bird flu response. According to NBC News, the terminations were part of the Trump administration's efforts to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce. So far, thousands of employees at federal health agencies have also been laid off. (Smith, et al., NBC News, 2/18)
• Georgia: HHS officials have indefinitely postponed a public meeting of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which was originally scheduled to take place between Feb. 26 and 28. According to HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon, the meeting was "postponed to accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting." In response to the postponement, several public health organizations and medical experts spoke out against the decision, saying that it would delay action and discussion on important infectious disease threats, including one of the most severe flu seasons in years. Separately, there have been reports that newly confirmed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to remove some members of ACIP and other vaccine advisory committees. "We will remove conflicts of interest from the committees and research partners whenever possible or balance them with other stakeholders," Kennedy said in his first extended remarks to HHS staff. So far, people familiar with the situation say that Kennedy has only started evaluating the advisory committees, and it is not clear who or how many people will be removed. (Sun/Nirappil, Washington Post, 2/20; Cancryn, et al., Politico, 2/20)
• Pennsylvania: Mark Sevco has been named president of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), which is the health system arm of Highmark Health. Currently, Sevco is COO at Sutter Health, and before that, he held various leadership roles at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he spent 30 years. "As network president, Mark and his team of 23,000 AHN employees will work to advance our Living Health model, supporting the blended payer-provider strategies that will allow Highmark Health to transform care and succeed in a highly competitive industry environment," said Highmark Health COO Karen Hanlon. (DeSilva, Modern Healthcare, 2/14)

As the health policy landscape in 2025 unfolds, federal power is limited and state policymakers are taking the lead, implementing transformative policies in the absence of federal action. Discover how this dynamic is shaping the healthcare operating environment and what it means for healthcare organizations navigating the regulatory landscape.