Celebrating 100 days of the Trump Administration

On April 22, FDA announced during a press event that it is working to:

• Establish a national standard and timeline for the food industry to phase out petroleum-based food dyes to natural alternatives.
• Remove authorization for two synthetic food colorings—Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B—within the coming months.
• Eliminate the six remaining synthetic dyes from the food supply by the end of next year by working with industry:  FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2.
• Request companies remove FD&C Red No. 3 sooner than the 2027-2028 deadline.
• Authorize four new natural color additives in the coming weeks. Fast track the review and approval of others.
• Partner with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research how food additives impact children’s health and development.

On April 16, Secretary Kennedy held a press conference on the latest CDC data showing an alarming increase of autism.

According to the data, autism prevalence in the U.S. has increased from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31.  Better diagnostics alone do not account for this sharp increase.

Secretary Kennedy is taking action to treat autism as the public health emergency it is. He is leading the charge to uncover the environmental causes behind the epidemic and bring transparency, science, and urgency to a crisis that has been ignored for far too long. 

On March 10, Secretary Kennedy directed the FDA to change the rules allowing food companies to say that new ingredients are “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. Secretary Kennedy explained how we’re applying this designation to far too many ingredients. It was originally meant to allow companies to use common ingredients like salt and baking powder without safety-testing them first.

Secretary Kennedy also directed FDA and NIH to improve how they evaluate GRAS ingredients so we can identify which ones are making Americans sick and help American consumers and regulators make informed decisions.

USDA Secretary Rollins and HHS Secretary Kennedy are collaborating to update the 2025 - 2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Goals for the 10th Edition of the Guidelines include:

• Easy to read: Make it concise and user-friendly so everyone can read it.
• Available quickly: Aiming to release the new edition ahead of the December 2025 deadline.
• MAHA-focused: Will be a nationally recognized vehicle to promote MAHA priorities to improve nutrition for all Americans and reduce the burden of chronic disease. The 10th Edition milestone provides an opportunity for HHS to support healthy eating and Make America Healthy Again.

On March 18, Secretary Kennedy hosted a roundtable with CEOs from the top infant formula manufacturers and announced Operation Stork Speed to investigate options for safe, reliable, and nutritious infant formula for American families

March 28: Secretary Kennedy joined West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey for a press conference to celebrate:

• The signing of a MAHA Bill banning 7 types of harmful food dyes from school lunches and any food products sold in West Virginia.
• A plan to request a waiver to remove soda from the taxpayer-subsidized food stamp program.

April 7: HHS Secretary Kennedy held a press conference with elected officials and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to celebrate Utah's groundbreaking MAHA legislation. These MAHA bills included:

• The nation's first ban on adding fluoride to public drinking water
• Ban on certain dyes and chemical additives in public school meals
• Restriction on using SNAP benefits to purchase soda

Later, Administrator Zeldin announced that the EPA will review the latest scientific research on the health risks associated with fluoridated water.

April 8: Secretary Kennedy joined Arizona state lawmakers at a packed press conference to celebrate two new MAHA bills passed by the senate and house. These include:

• The Arizona Healthy Schools Act, signed into law by Governor Hobbs, banning public schools from serving ultra-processed foods with harmful additives such as artificial dyes.
• Ban on Soda Purchases with SNAP funds, vetoed by Governor Hobbs, directs the state to seek a waiver from the USDA to prohibit this.

April 15: Secretary Kennedy joined Indiana Governor Mike Braun for a press conference to celebrate the 9 MAHA Executive Orders he passed. These orders include:

• Ban on using SNAP benefits for candy, soft drinks and other junk food.
• Ban on harmful food dyes.
• Other initiatives to encourage the role of nutrition, ingredient transparency, and fitness in keeping children healthy.

In partnership with DOGE, HHS is already:

• Terminating, de-scoping or non-renewing over 5,000 contracts resulting in $17.1B of savings
• Cancelling $14.1B in COVID-related grants
• Saving $10.5B by requiring individuals to produce proof of income to qualify for federal subsidies
• Saving $6.8B by capping NIH grant indirect costs at 15%

DOGE is working with HHS Divisions on the largest HHS restructuring in 50 years, aiming to:

• Eliminate redundant offices
• Streamline required programs
• Deliver Gold Standard Scientific Research

Additionally, DOGE and CMS are working on a number of program integrity rules, process improvements, and audit tools that have the potential to save over $40 billion per year.

On April 29, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced they are urging states to make it easier for families to choose the childcare, after-school, and educational programs that work best for them – including private and faith-based options.

ACF programs are spearheading efforts to expand the use of vouchers, block grants, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.

These actions support President Trump’s Executive Order 14191, aiming to expand educational freedom, improve student achievement and strengthen our nation’s competitiveness.

HHS is working to protect Jewish students from discrimination and harassment on campus. We are doing this by:

• Taking a leadership role in the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, along with the Departments of Education and Justice, and the General Services Administration.
• Leading reviews that resulted in the freeze or cancellation of billions in federal funding to institutions like Harvard and Columbia for failing to protect Jewish students from clear antisemitism.
• Driving decisive federal action to hold universities accountable for protecting Jewish students.

HHS is restoring common sense to federal policy by eliminating spending on grants and programs related to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) efforts. So far, we have:

• Saved more than $350 million by ending grant funding for more than 500 DEI-related research projects.
• Ended the use of pronouns and other DEI-related terminology in federal statements, policies, regulations, forms, and other communications.

HHS is enforcing President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, by:

• Recognizing only two sexes: male and female.
• Applying that standard to civil rights enforcement, healthcare policy, and sports eligibility.
• Withdrawing prior guidance promoting gender ideology.

HHS supports the broad effort to ensure fairness for women athletes and uphold sex-based protections in education.

HHS is investigating the Maine Department of Education for allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports, which may violate federal civil rights law and President Trump’s Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.

Secretary Kennedy is ushering in a new era of radical transparency in our health agencies. We have launched a Radical Transparency web page to empower the public with information on:

• Potential conflicts of interest of members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
• Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool, a searchable FDA database that lists contaminant levels in foods to help protect public health.
• Terminated HHS contracts

FDA took a major step for public health by moving away from animal testing in drug development and using more effective, human-based methods like:

• AI models to predict if a drug is potentially harmful
• Lab testing with human cells and human-like organ models

The new approach is designed to improve drug safety, speed up the evaluation process, while reducing experiments on animals, lowering costs, and ultimately, drug prices.