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The Senate health committee approved two nominees for key health roles Thursday, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a pandemic preparedness leader, after Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) once again set aside his reservations to support Trump administration leadership picks. (Cirruzzo, 7/30)

A new online tracking tool from AcademyHealth shows the sprawling scope of recent grant cancellations by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). More than 100 grants worth over $250 million have been canceled, according to the tracker, and those numbers are only expected to climb, Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, president and CEO of AcademyHealth, told MedPage Today. (Henderson, 7/30)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Politics Of Grant Cuts

The Trump administration has conceded in court documents that it used purely political considerations to cancel grant funding previously approved by Congress. But that has provoked a surprisingly muted response from lawmakers, who under the Constitution control the power of the purse. (Rovner, 7/30)

Dr. Anthony Fauci and his lawyers knew that invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional hearing this week was a gamble. The doctor millions trusted through the pandemic risked looking like a man with something to hide. His team decided it was his best play, according to people familiar with his legal strategy— because his alternatives were worse. His lawyers believed that answering could open him up to a perjury charge from Republican opponents hunting for discrepancies in his near constant stream of statements during the chaos of the pandemic. (Siddiqui and Essley Whyte, 7/30)

For almost three hours on Wednesday morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci sat before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and declined to answer questions about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than a hundred times — which later led Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to say he would push to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress next week. (Daniel, 7/30)

The Department of Health and Human Services keeps saying it's turning over a new leaf, but it has only been partially successful — and controversial vaccine policymaking appears to be back on the table. (Owens, 7/31)

Healthcare leaders committed to behavioral health "best practices" during an HHS roundtable event on Wednesday, while a key law on insurance coverage for mental health remains in limbo. Insurers, medical societies, and other health industry leaders pledged to "advance evidence-based, high-quality, patient-centered care for individuals experiencing mental health conditions and the chronic disease of addiction." Specific best practices include timely access to treatment and evidence-based and patient-centered care, according to the HHS press release. (Henderson, 7/30)

A senior health official with the State Department presenting at an international AIDS conference in Brazil this week used a map of Africa to illustrate U.S. government funding for H.I.V. programs on the continent. (Tumin, 7/30)

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a show geared toward teaching Americans how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals. “Thanks to President Trump, we flipped the food pyramid and put real food back where it belongs: at the center of the American plate,” Kennedy said in a video he posted Wednesday to YouTube touting “The Real Food Show.” (Rego, 7/30)