Democrats counted it as a win Tuesday when President Donald Trump signed a law providing $20 billion more for the agency that is the world's largest health research funder than Trump requested. Democrats' victory could prove pyrrhic. Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his National Institutes of Health director, Jay Bhattacharya, have promised to spend the money, but not necessarily on projects Democrats will like. They have already begun rerouting millions in discretionary funds to studies on autism, which Kennedy believes is caused by vaccines. They've cut support for studies of health disparities related to race or gender, and research on transgender people. They've withheld funds to pressure universities to change policies on campus protests, faculty hiring and admissions. And now they plan on shifting more money to red states that used to go to blue.
In a social media landscape shaped by hashtags, algorithms, and viral posts, nurse leaders must decide: Will they let the narrative spiral, or can they adapt and join the conversation?
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