National News

The Trump administration is hampering efforts to fight the measles outbreak that took the life of a an unvaccinated school-aged child this week in Texas, according to an MSNBC medical consultant Dr. Davita Patel.

The child's death was the first linked to an outbreak in West Texas that has infected more than 100 people. ABC News reported that most all of the cases "are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown."

In an article Wednesday, Dr. Patel, a physician and health policy researcher, wrote, "The current Texas outbreak mirrors 2019’s surge in New York, where 1,274 cases nearly cost the U.S. its designation as a country that had eliminated the disease."

She continued, "Health experts stress that measles’ 90% transmission rate demands rapid, well-resourced responses. With hospitalizations rising and containment protocols delayed, the window to preserve this public health milestone is narrowing. Investment in immunization programs and disease surveillance remains critical to preventing measles from regaining endemic status.

ALSO READ: 'Gotta be kidding': Jim Jordan scrambles as he's confronted over Musk 'double standard'

However, the Trump administration's reluctance to encourage vaccines while simultaneously cutting public health outreach efforts, "does not bode well for the next four years," she wrote.

"In a normal presidency, this would be a time for action, with federal support for local public health programs or maybe the president using the bully pulpit to encourage people to get their children a safe and effective vaccine that prevents a brutal disease that can cause deafness, intellectual disabilities or even death," Dr. Patel wrote.

Dr. Patel also laid blame with President Donald Trump's own "vaccine skepticism" that led the president to reinstate military service members who refused the Covid vaccine during the pandemic. Trump has also echoed concerns about vaccines espoused by his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread conspiracy theories about vaccine safety.

In the piece, Dr. Patel wrote that, "Vaccination rates continue to decline nationally, with exemptions reaching record highs in 12 states." And, although a push to vaccinate would certainly save more lives, Dr. Patel concluded, "Unfortunately, we will not get the kind of response we need from the Trump administration soon."

Read the MSNBC article here.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the increasingly popular Democratic lawmaker from Texas, mocked attempts by her Republican colleagues in the House who have been pushing for ways to honor Donald Trump instead of serving their constituents at home.

Deep in a report from the Wall Street Journal on conservative lawmakers' efforts to boost the re-elected president's profile –– as well as their own –– by making his birthday a national holiday or putting his face on Mt. Rushmore, the blunt-talking Crockett dismissed their efforts as a waste of time.

With the Journal using Rep. Claudia Tenney's (R-NY) proposal to make Trump's birthday into a holiday as an example, the Journal is reporting, "Congressional Republicans’ message this session is rare for the volume and limited focus of one category of proposals: unabashed adulation for the 47th president and his agenda, even if some of the bills are more performative than realistic."

ALSO READ: 'Gotta be kidding': Jim Jordan scrambles as he's confronted over Musk 'double standard'

Another proposal from freshman Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) would rename Dulles Airport in the president’s honor, with the far-right conservative also asserting, "Voters across the U.S. 'would love to rename their state ‘The State of Donald Trump.’ ”

According to the report, none of the bills have drawn near enough signatures to be taken seriously enough for a vote despite a Republican majority.

What's more, the Journal notes, "Democrats are snickering at the loyalty exercises—and using them as an opportunity to criticize their Republican colleagues for straying from campaign promises to reduce inflation," with the always quotable Crockett leading the charge.

“At this point, House Republicans should stop filing these desperate, pointless bills that do nothing to bring down the cost of rent or groceries, and just rent one of Elon’s rockets to write ‘Love me Donny’ in the sky in front of Mar-a-Lago,” she joked. “It would be faster.”

You can read more here.

Government agencies have been directed to submit "reorganization plans" and prepare for large-scale firings as part of Elon Musk's efforts to drastically reduce the federal budget.

CBS News obtained a memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget along with the Office of Personnel Management directing department heads to submit those plans by March 13 and ready themselves for "reductions in force."

"Agencies should also seek to consolidate areas of the agency organization chart that are duplicative; consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist; seek reductions in components and positions that are non-critical; implement technological solutions that automate routine tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value activities; close and/or consolidate regional field offices to the extent consistent with efficient service delivery; and maximally reduce the use of outside consultants and contractors," the memo states. "When taking these actions, agencies should align closures and/or relocation of bureaus and offices with agency return-to-office actions to avoid multiple relocation benefit costs for individual employees."

ALSO READ: MAGA is 'showing increasing interest in bringing Republican women to heel': columnist

The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has created chaos throughout the government after Donald Trump established the panel through an executive order on Inauguration Day, and the tech billionaire directed all federal employees over the weekend to justify their jobs by email or be fired.

However, some agency chiefs, including Trump appointees, said they had directed their employees not to respond.