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Bobby Scott blasts HHS for eliminating federal poverty guidelines staff

Chris Graham
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump. Photo: © Phil Mistry/ Shutterstock

This one, about Virginia Democrat Bobby Scott demanding that HHS reinstate the federal poverty guidelines staff, is a little inside baseball.

It’s not like cutting funding for cancer research or hiring a discredited vaccine skeptic to look into the causes of autism, but …

“Without dedicated and expert staff ensuring these updates are done in a timely and accurate manner, disruptions to service delivery are inevitable,” Scott wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose dumb “do more with less” approach to running the public health system had him eliminate the entire staff of the team within the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Planning and Evaluation responsible for setting federal poverty guidelines.



As with everything else the Trump/Project 2025 group have been doing, this one will end up disrupting benefits for tens of millions of families, low-income individuals, seniors, people with disabilities, children and pregnant women.

Like the millionaires and billionaires in charge of things in Trump 2.0 care, right?

“Any staffing changes that disrupt the HHS’ ability to fulfill its statutory obligations, including setting and regularly updating the federal poverty guidelines, contradict congressional intent,” Scott wrote to RFK Jr. “I oppose the unilateral action that would disrupt the production of this crucial measure of poverty and threaten assistance for our nation’s struggling children and families.”

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

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