Jenn Kauffman
@jennaudrey.bsky.social
ANC Commissioner 4D08, DC Council staff. MPH health equity @ BU SPH. Alum of AFL-CIO & UMass Labor Center (among other places). I talk mostly about public health + politics + workers’ rights. **Personal account.**
Pinned
The DC I know is worth fighting for.
I’m Janeese Lewis George, and I’m running for Mayor.
youtu.be/aOBD45c3wVM
I’m Janeese Lewis George, and I’m running for Mayor.
youtu.be/aOBD45c3wVM
The DC I know
YouTube video by Janeese for DC
youtu.be
It has been so amazing to hear from literally dozens of people over email and text and social about how READY we all are for a champion who will fight for DC. 💜 @janeese4dc.bsky.social is the bold mayor we’ve been waiting for and the leader we need!
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
The last 12 FDA commissioners did not mince their words (to the extent that one can do that in the context of an academic medical journal):
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | NEJM
Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness, and availability.
www.nejm.org
December 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The last 12 FDA commissioners did not mince their words (to the extent that one can do that in the context of an academic medical journal):
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
Nashville (Davidson County)'s early vote came in, and Aftyn Behn destroyed it there 85% to 15%.
That gives Behn a 7% advantage district-wide with 14 of of the 15 counties reporting their early votes.
Now, we wait for the red shift of the Election Day votes—and see where this ends up.
That gives Behn a 7% advantage district-wide with 14 of of the 15 counties reporting their early votes.
Now, we wait for the red shift of the Election Day votes—and see where this ends up.
December 3, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Nashville (Davidson County)'s early vote came in, and Aftyn Behn destroyed it there 85% to 15%.
That gives Behn a 7% advantage district-wide with 14 of of the 15 counties reporting their early votes.
Now, we wait for the red shift of the Election Day votes—and see where this ends up.
That gives Behn a 7% advantage district-wide with 14 of of the 15 counties reporting their early votes.
Now, we wait for the red shift of the Election Day votes—and see where this ends up.
Echoing this: it’s not a public safety issue, and we know this because applications that don’t say PorchFest get approved, and ones that do say PorchFest don’t! And the law still enables agencies to raise objections due to public safety concerns.
Glad the Council passed this common-sense bill!
Glad the Council passed this common-sense bill!
And to be clear - the Neighborhood Block Party permit application literally requires an applicant to submit a traffic safety plan that *allows emergency vehicles the ability to drive through the block during the entirety of the event*! This is a non-existent problem!
December 2, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Echoing this: it’s not a public safety issue, and we know this because applications that don’t say PorchFest get approved, and ones that do say PorchFest don’t! And the law still enables agencies to raise objections due to public safety concerns.
Glad the Council passed this common-sense bill!
Glad the Council passed this common-sense bill!
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
Give a death cult power and they start killing babies and children. Weird how that happens.
Breaking news: Federal vaccine advisers selected by Health Secretary RFK Jr. are planning to vote on ending the practice of vaccinating all newborns for hepatitis B and to examine whether shots are behind the rise of allergies and autoimmune disorders.
RFK Jr.'s vaccine advisers plan biggest change yet to childhood schedule
The new chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said the panel plans to vote to end universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth and to scrutinize if childhood shots cause allergies.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Give a death cult power and they start killing babies and children. Weird how that happens.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
DDOT continues to publish before/after analyses of safety projects. The numbers for the 9th street NW bike lanes suggest that we should be doing these projects everywhere we can. Crashes plummeted, pedestrian and bike traffic skyrocketed, and vehicle travel times dropped.
December 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
DDOT continues to publish before/after analyses of safety projects. The numbers for the 9th street NW bike lanes suggest that we should be doing these projects everywhere we can. Crashes plummeted, pedestrian and bike traffic skyrocketed, and vehicle travel times dropped.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
November 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Ex-official explained this in a way that will stick with me forever: Within fire departments, the EMTs are overworked and underpaid and don’t have time to advocate for policy. The fire chiefs, on the other hand, have a lot more time on their hands. So fire response, not medical, dictates policy.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
NEW: Last week an arbitrator ruled that Politico management violated key AI terms in its union contract.
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
Politico management violated key AI adoption safeguards, arbitrator finds
The ruling marks one of the first major tests of an AI clause in a newsroom union contract.
www.niemanlab.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:12 PM
NEW: Last week an arbitrator ruled that Politico management violated key AI terms in its union contract.
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
“In the early days it was a lonely battle. Studio heads whom Taylor had made lots of money for hung up on her … Some of her friends and advisers told her to stay away from HIV and AIDS because it could end her career.” www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20...
December 2, 2025 at 1:37 AM
“In the early days it was a lonely battle. Studio heads whom Taylor had made lots of money for hung up on her … Some of her friends and advisers told her to stay away from HIV and AIDS because it could end her career.” www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
I’ve heard an increasing number of reports like this from Ward 4 neighbors — which concerns me as animals face freezing temperatures. DC Health and BVSPCA need to urgently address this situation.
There are 2 dogs who’ve been left in a car outside my house for over an hour while it’s freezing cold. They’re barking nonstop. So I called it into 311, they transferred me to animal services, who said they’d follow up during normal business hours.
Utterly useless, and now I don’t know what to do
Utterly useless, and now I don’t know what to do
December 2, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I’ve heard an increasing number of reports like this from Ward 4 neighbors — which concerns me as animals face freezing temperatures. DC Health and BVSPCA need to urgently address this situation.
It has been so amazing to hear from literally dozens of people over email and text and social about how READY we all are for a champion who will fight for DC. 💜 @janeese4dc.bsky.social is the bold mayor we’ve been waiting for and the leader we need!
The DC I know is worth fighting for.
I’m Janeese Lewis George, and I’m running for Mayor.
youtu.be/aOBD45c3wVM
I’m Janeese Lewis George, and I’m running for Mayor.
youtu.be/aOBD45c3wVM
The DC I know
YouTube video by Janeese for DC
youtu.be
December 2, 2025 at 2:31 AM
It has been so amazing to hear from literally dozens of people over email and text and social about how READY we all are for a champion who will fight for DC. 💜 @janeese4dc.bsky.social is the bold mayor we’ve been waiting for and the leader we need!
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
The FDA bypassed its typical process and overstated the science behind menopause hormone therapy, experts told me – with troubling implications for future drug decisions
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Doctors respond to ‘data-free’ decision over menopause hormone therapy: ‘It’s not true’
Physicians say FDA panel conflated two issues and made baseless claims about unproven health benefits
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
The FDA bypassed its typical process and overstated the science behind menopause hormone therapy, experts told me – with troubling implications for future drug decisions
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
NEW: A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
Amid Confusing CDC Guidance About Vaccines, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy
A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
www.propublica.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:06 PM
NEW: A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
November 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
With news of more pertussis / whooping cough deaths it’s necessary to highlight how much antiscience anti-vax content Substack promotes (and profits from).
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1/2
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 AM
With news of more pertussis / whooping cough deaths it’s necessary to highlight how much antiscience anti-vax content Substack promotes (and profits from).
1/2
1/2
This is an inherently ableist and ageist scheme. Folks who have chronic conditions will need plans with higher premiums, and folks after 40 begin to see their premiums rise too.
Giving everyone the same pittance of cash and then wishing them luck negotiating their own plans will be a disaster.
Giving everyone the same pittance of cash and then wishing them luck negotiating their own plans will be a disaster.
NEW: Donald Trump says he wants ACA funds to end after 2025
“I’d rather not" extend them, he tells reporters on AF1. "I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all."
He wants cash to go "directly" to people. Unclear how that'd work.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
“I’d rather not" extend them, he tells reporters on AF1. "I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all."
He wants cash to go "directly" to people. Unclear how that'd work.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
Trump says he would 'rather not' extend Obamacare tax credits 'at all'
The president said he prefers to let the Affordable Care Act subsidies expire on schedule at the end of December, saying if anything he wants the money to go to "the people directly."
www.nbcnews.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:55 AM
This is an inherently ableist and ageist scheme. Folks who have chronic conditions will need plans with higher premiums, and folks after 40 begin to see their premiums rise too.
Giving everyone the same pittance of cash and then wishing them luck negotiating their own plans will be a disaster.
Giving everyone the same pittance of cash and then wishing them luck negotiating their own plans will be a disaster.
“The only thing you need to know about Olivia Nuzzi is that she used her position of power, as a journalist, to advise and elevate the world’s most prominent anti-vaccine activist to the most influential health position in the United States.”
Olivia Nuzzi wrote an entire story based on unnamed sources about Biden's decline, reinvigorating calls for him to leave the race -- and the whole time, she was working on RFK Jr.'s behalf, according to her ex-fiance. newrepublic.com/article/2035...
Olivia Nuzzi’s Real Victims
More than her fiancé, or fellow female journalists, the public will pay the price for these misdeeds. RFK Jr. will see to that.
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:49 AM
“The only thing you need to know about Olivia Nuzzi is that she used her position of power, as a journalist, to advise and elevate the world’s most prominent anti-vaccine activist to the most influential health position in the United States.”
A reminder from our neighbors to the north that the far-reaching consequences of the destruction RFK Jr. has caused extend far beyond the U.S. borders.
On top of weaponizing the reputation of the CDC to promote anti-vax language and firing ACIP, he’s “slashed the agency budget by roughly a third..”
On top of weaponizing the reputation of the CDC to promote anti-vax language and firing ACIP, he’s “slashed the agency budget by roughly a third..”
The destruction of one of the world’s great public health agencies is a travesty. RFK Jr. seems determined to replace evidence-based science with quackery and use the CDC as his mouthpiece, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/0fc7a92... via @theglobeandmail.com
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/0fc7a92... via @theglobeandmail.com
The destruction of one of the world’s great public health agencies is a travesty
RFK Jr.’s latest attack on vaccines shows evidence-based science has been replaced by the ill-informed opinions of a quack
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:40 AM
A reminder from our neighbors to the north that the far-reaching consequences of the destruction RFK Jr. has caused extend far beyond the U.S. borders.
On top of weaponizing the reputation of the CDC to promote anti-vax language and firing ACIP, he’s “slashed the agency budget by roughly a third..”
On top of weaponizing the reputation of the CDC to promote anti-vax language and firing ACIP, he’s “slashed the agency budget by roughly a third..”
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
There’s just so many layers of bad faith. Trying to pass off Kennedy as ineffective or focused on other things than vaccines! Meanwhile: bsky.app/profile/marg...
Vaccines.gov, the CDC's vaccination site search engine, got a MAHA makeover in June. Then it stopped working altogether.
New from me:
www.notus.org/health-scien...
New from me:
www.notus.org/health-scien...
CDC Quietly Turned Off Its Vaccine Search Tool. It’s Not Clear When It’s Coming Back.
“I have heard that they are planning to ‘update it’ and shudder to think what that will mean,” Demetre Daskalakis, a former member of CDC leadership, told NOTUS.
www.notus.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:12 AM
There’s just so many layers of bad faith. Trying to pass off Kennedy as ineffective or focused on other things than vaccines! Meanwhile: bsky.app/profile/marg...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
- He stopped the policy of encouraging flu immunization in Louisiana
- Delayed reporting on a pertussis outbreak that killed two children in Louisiana.
-Promoted false information on covid vaccine harms.
He is now number 2 at CDC.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
- Delayed reporting on a pertussis outbreak that killed two children in Louisiana.
-Promoted false information on covid vaccine harms.
He is now number 2 at CDC.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Controversial Louisiana surgeon general tapped for CDC leadership role
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham has spoken against Covid shots and ended mass vaccination campaigns. Now he's in a position to make national health decisions.
www.nbcnews.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
- He stopped the policy of encouraging flu immunization in Louisiana
- Delayed reporting on a pertussis outbreak that killed two children in Louisiana.
-Promoted false information on covid vaccine harms.
He is now number 2 at CDC.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
- Delayed reporting on a pertussis outbreak that killed two children in Louisiana.
-Promoted false information on covid vaccine harms.
He is now number 2 at CDC.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
Baristas at 95 Starbucks stores in 65 cities are currently on OPEN-ENDED STRIKE over unfair labor practices.
It's day 13 of the strike. This is the longest ULP strike in the company's history.
Workers are asking customers everywhere to show solidarity by boycotting Starbucks.
It's day 13 of the strike. This is the longest ULP strike in the company's history.
Workers are asking customers everywhere to show solidarity by boycotting Starbucks.
November 25, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Baristas at 95 Starbucks stores in 65 cities are currently on OPEN-ENDED STRIKE over unfair labor practices.
It's day 13 of the strike. This is the longest ULP strike in the company's history.
Workers are asking customers everywhere to show solidarity by boycotting Starbucks.
It's day 13 of the strike. This is the longest ULP strike in the company's history.
Workers are asking customers everywhere to show solidarity by boycotting Starbucks.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
"She said that lenacapavir has become a kind of diplomatic carrot — and stick.
Friendly, compliant governments, like Eswatini, have received early shipments, whereas South Africa or Nigeria — countries that have fallen out of favor with Trump — seem to have received the short end of the stick."
Friendly, compliant governments, like Eswatini, have received early shipments, whereas South Africa or Nigeria — countries that have fallen out of favor with Trump — seem to have received the short end of the stick."
The US is fast-tracking this important HIV drug — for everyone except South Africa
Why the Trump administration is cutting out a country that needs it most.
www.vox.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 AM
"She said that lenacapavir has become a kind of diplomatic carrot — and stick.
Friendly, compliant governments, like Eswatini, have received early shipments, whereas South Africa or Nigeria — countries that have fallen out of favor with Trump — seem to have received the short end of the stick."
Friendly, compliant governments, like Eswatini, have received early shipments, whereas South Africa or Nigeria — countries that have fallen out of favor with Trump — seem to have received the short end of the stick."
With U.S. maternal outcomes woefully behind similar counties, it’s led parents to try to improve outcomes.
But “free birthing” is fundamentally based in the ableist notion that health is solely based on decision-making — when in reality childbirth is complex and sometimes things just go south.
But “free birthing” is fundamentally based in the ableist notion that health is solely based on decision-making — when in reality childbirth is complex and sometimes things just go south.
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
With U.S. maternal outcomes woefully behind similar counties, it’s led parents to try to improve outcomes.
But “free birthing” is fundamentally based in the ableist notion that health is solely based on decision-making — when in reality childbirth is complex and sometimes things just go south.
But “free birthing” is fundamentally based in the ableist notion that health is solely based on decision-making — when in reality childbirth is complex and sometimes things just go south.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
Cannot overstate how, from my perch as a national-security reporter, this would have been an earth-shattering scandal in a prior era.
Billionaire Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, pardoned by Donald Trump, has been accused of facilitating millions of dollars’ worth of payments to Hamas in the wake of its attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Zhao also financed the Trump family's entrance into the cryptocurrency market.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao accused of facilitating payments to Hamas
Crypto tycoon pardoned by Donald Trump faces US court complaint from families of victims of October 7 attack
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Cannot overstate how, from my perch as a national-security reporter, this would have been an earth-shattering scandal in a prior era.
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
This is so incredible. You have to see the photos. These workers held the line for THREE YEARS www.publicsource.org/post-gazette...
November 25, 2025 at 5:29 AM
This is so incredible. You have to see the photos. These workers held the line for THREE YEARS www.publicsource.org/post-gazette...
Reposted by Jenn Kauffman
The military has a duty to refuse unlawful orders, but Congress has a duty to remove from office a president and secretary who would issue such orders. There is something off about members of Congress talking about the former while refusing to say the latter, the part that's actually their job here.
November 25, 2025 at 6:38 AM
The military has a duty to refuse unlawful orders, but Congress has a duty to remove from office a president and secretary who would issue such orders. There is something off about members of Congress talking about the former while refusing to say the latter, the part that's actually their job here.