White House reporter at the Washington Post. Focused on politics, policy and public health. Democracy dies in darkness. Find me on Signal: username dan_diamond.01
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I’ve heard from Democrats + public health people who interpret Trump’s post today as bad for RFK Jr People in Trump’s orbit and in admin tell me nothing has changed: RFK Jr retains full support. (Per our article, which ran online yesterday and on front page of WaPo this morning)
Seeing much debate over Trump’s latest remarks on covid and RFK Jr Some relevant reporting Yesterday: Steve Bannon told WaPo (left) that he wanted Trump to post asap on TruthSocial, and his admin to push on vaccine data Today: Trump posts a TruthSocial (right), demanding more covid vaccine data
There are many Democrats and health-care workers — and @bera.house.gov is both — who are alarmed by RFK Jr’s moves and strategizing on how to stop him. I spoke to Rep. Bera for our story today.
Why is Trump letting RFK Jr dismantle agencies and upend public health? Shared grievances and skepticism about vaccines, a growing personal bond — and a belief that it’s good politics. Inside their alliance, with @emilydavies.bsky.social and Natalie Allison www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Here’s a photo of Trump this morning, snapped by pool photographer at AFP
Trump update: White House pool reporters snapped a photo of the president this morning as he heads to play golf
Scoop - the White House is tapping JIM O'NEILL to serve as acting head of CDC, people familiar tell me O'Neill has been serving as RFK Jr's deputy secretary. He has been vocally supportive of vaccines in the past, but also criticized Biden covid vax response. More at The Post:
Cassidy’s full statement The ACIP meeting next month is part of a process expected to lead to new, narrower CDC recommendations on who should have access to covid vaccines
Breaking: BILL CASSIDY is calling for CDC's vaccine advisers meeting to be postponed. "If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership."
Inbox: @sanders.senate.gov is calling for a bipartisan investigation into the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez. Sanders is the top Democrat on the Senate's health committee — the chairman is Bill Cassidy, who last night said he would conduct "oversight" but didn't get more specific.
CDC website has been updated… (Deb Houry, the CDC's chief medical officer, resigned yesterday, meaning that the agency's top two leadership posts are now vacant)
Susan Monarez remains the CDC’s director this morning — on the agency’s website, at least
Took a moment to summarize our scoop on CDC director Monarez being ousted + some of the many questions we’re digging into among them: - who’s making decisions at CDC now? and will RFK Jr get the vaccine changes he wants?
well I guess paternity leave is officially over
Update — hearing that the White House has formally fired Monarez, per two admin sources. Monarez's lawyers said earlier tonight she had neither resigned nor been fired
After news of Monarez's ouster, multiple top CDC officials announced their resignations, per emails obtained by The Post “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponizing of public health,” said @drdemetre.bsky.social Today = no precedent at CDC
Ouster comes after days of fights with RFK Jr and other officials One flashpoint: whether Monarez would support covid vax policy changes Monarez tried to enlist Bill Cassidy to defend her, further angering RFK Jr More updates with @lenasun.bsky.social here
Scoop - SUSAN MONAREZ, nation’s newly installed CDC director, is being ousted, people familiar tell @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social + me
Signs that Trump’s policing surge is meeting resistance in DC — grand juries refusing to issue indictments, an extraordinary rebuke — magistrate judges criticizing arrests as a relying on “illegal” tactics and lacking “basic human dignity” by @rizzotk.bsky.social + Mike Laris
To whoever screamed “LOOK! IT’S SENATOR WHAT’S HER FACE!” at the State Fair, I hope you have an incredible day 😂
this headline made me feel very very old
Sen. @blumenthal.senate.gov is calling on RFK Jr. to remove Robert Malone from a vaccine advisory panel and restore the panel’s original experts, citing Malone’s rhetoric in wake of CDC shooting.
currently identify with only one of these four words
CDC employees told me the shooting at CDC was much worse than initial police reports suggested. More than 40 bullets hit buildings. “It’s a miracle more people weren’t hit,” said one staffer who was locked down in a building for hours last evening.
A great example of flawed online discourse. I have no idea what Ben’s motive here is, but it got a lot of folks worked up. Mad at WaPo; mad at William Chatterson Williams. The headline he posted leaves off the 2nd part—“And that’s not a good thing.” There’s much to be upset about without this BS.
A modest but real example of how a proud and free press can prompt people in power to serve the public
Feel like this needs a spotlight: employees were told that the shooting at CDC, which left an officer dead and buildings riddled with bullets, was targeted at agency, @lenasun.bsky.social, @laurenweberhp.bsky.social and @tobiaraji.bsky.social report Years of anti-CDC rhetoric has consequences
The boomerangs fell into the quicksand.
(this post was inspired by watching my son watch an episode of Peppa Pig all about boomerangs. The boomerang propaganda-cycle begins again)
I feel like childhood cartoons + movies prepared me to see boomerangs everywhere But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boomerang anywhere?
I hired a fact checker. Authors have to pay for it themselves, but 100% worth it in my opinion.
True. I’m writing one now and I know there must be errors lurking in there. Publishers do not do fact checking. Hiring a fact checker (which I’ve done in the past) costs thousands. So I’m doing my own, terrified about what I might miss.
One example — I picked up the “definitive biography” of Lewis Hamilton, flipped through a few pages, and got stuck on this clear error. (Hamilton’s entire team declined to participate in S1 of the show, but he was a major character starting in S2.) A small mistake? Sure. But it adds up.
apropos of nothing (except me being on paternity leave + having time to read a little), but it’s striking how many errors creep into some prominent nonfiction books news articles aren’t perfect, of course, but the ability to get real-time feedback and make corrections helps inoculate them
Today’s my birthday, so we splurged
even better than I remembered
I will mentor you if you agree to mentor me
White House officials paused — then released — billions of dollars in NIH research funding on Tuesday Comes amid Trump's broader crackdown on NIH funds, which has alarmed Democrats and even unsettled some in GOP w @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @jeffstein.bsky.social @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social
This @drewharwell.com story on a U.S. social media influencer getting $$ to promote other countries is very good, even if reading it made me feel very old. (Gift link — no paywall)
Wishing good luck to so many suddenly former WaPo colleagues as they launch new projects and take their talents elsewhere. One standout — @davejorgenson.bsky.social, who walks through his strategy for “Local News International” in this great interview with @oliverdarcy.bsky.social.
Great article for all parents
I developed de Quervain’s tenosynovitis (“mommy thumb”) that requires surgical release.
Hearing that these tips are helpful so pasting them here
I was a shell of myself for more than a year when our kiddo was 2-3. Finally consulted a PT who said it was my psoas (& other core weakness). After another year neglecting to do my prescribed exercises, I found this 22 min yoga routine that’s been an absolute lifesaver. youtu.be/JsE4csvlUfA?...
Bravo. This is top of my list of "things I wish everyone had been more candid about when I asked what it was going to be like to be a parent"
Parenthood “is a sport that you have to be prepared for,” Kola Jegede, a NYU spinal surgeon, told me. He and others offered tips to minimize injuries from baby lifting, toddler play and other activities that can risk pain. (Might not save you from a toddler jumping on your head, though)
appreciated everyone’s feedback couldn’t find a good article here so decided to research + report one myself
SCOOP: DOGE has built an AI tool to cut 50 percent of federal regulations. The goal is to kill 100,000 regs by the one year anniversary of Trump's inauguration. wapo.st/451U8wD w/ @jeffstein.bsky.social @ddiamond.bsky.social @rachelsiegel25.bsky.social
“Using Larsson as a Swedish projectile to take out Celtics GM Brad Stevens was certainly a dangerous idea.” - @johnhollinger.bsky.social
Looking for an expert on ICD-10 codes for a quick question — can send a DM or email Dan.Diamond@washpost.com.
Medicaid messaging circa 2025
Twisted my ankle missing the last stair on our front porch while carrying a sleeping child to the car on the way to the airport.
Broke my Achilles tendon playing a ball game we call 2-square with my grade-school kids.
When the doctor asks you if you've been struck in the groin recently and all you can say is "probably"
Feel like the incidence of ortho injuries for new parents must be high — all my friends have a tale of woe* — but I’ve never seen data on it, or really an article. * a few years ago, with our first kid, I broke my toe trying to dodge stuff on the floor while doing 2 am parenting
curious how many people have experienced the minor (but sometimes major) orthopedic injuries associated with parenting young kids - straining your back while picking up babies, strollers, etc - having a toddler jump on you - injuring yourself while sleep-deprived at 2 am etc
NIH has fired its new chief operating officer — who had been helping lead Trump-era crackdowns on NIH workers — amid a probe into whether he tried to steer a contract to get his wife a job. with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social (and me pitching in from paternity leave)
dunno whether to laugh, groan or applaud
Thinking about our April 6 story on all the ways Trump + Musk’s cuts shifted risk to average Americans
NEW: Inside "Operation Gold Rush," the biggest Medicare fraud bust ever. For years, people got mysterious bills for catheters. Feds now say more than 1 million Americans' information was compromised in $10B-plus scheme. Alleged perps still got away with $1B. with @laurenweberhp.bsky.social
Please read this @khoureld.bsky.social story about the consequences of USAID cuts. Children are dying from starvation on the streets of Sudan — and the food that could save them, already paid for by our government, is languishing in U.S. warehouses. (No paywall)
still on paternity leave but took a break to scoop this story with the terrific @hannahnatanson.bsky.social — DOGE was stripped of its control over whether billions of dollars in federal grant opportunities get posted.
Imagine how crazy it would have been if Orlando or New Orleans won the NBA Finals this year, and then realize they had better preseason odds than the Pacers
I don’t understand Hollywood news alerts
A sign of things to come? In clash between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India last month, misinformation ran wild across the region’s major networks, fueled by WhatsApp, social media, and misleading edits, @karishma-m.bsky.social and colleagues report.
WSJ reporters on the Pentagon cultivating myths about UFOs for its own purposes: www.wsj.com/politics/nat... NYT’s @stuartathompson.bsky.social on a right-wing influencer cultivating outrage to goose payouts: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/t...
two great stories today — one in WSJ on UFOs, one in NYT on a social media influencer — appear to have little in common But they both speak to a shared truth: the broad desire to believe in conspiracies, and the self-interested motives of those who fan them
Editors say it’s my best reporting skill
are you suggesting Tyrese was a Bush-era, DARPA-funded special project
this guy may have been onto something
The NOTUS reporters said they spent five days (!) going through the 522 citations in the report.
attn: @bryancurtis.bsky.social
More from our story last month, including @hannahnatanson.bsky.social’s reporting on how local weather offices were being hit by firings, retirements and resignations. Current and former officials have been warning about these growing safety risks for months.
Reminded of a story that @hannahnatanson.bsky.social + I did in early April about how DOGE’s cuts were inevitably creating new risks for Americans — including risks related to severe weather
been away + focused on a personal project back at work later this year
Princeton has frozen most staff hiring and called on all departments and units to plan for 5% to 10% budget cuts as it prepares for the possibility of “very large, permanent cuts to federal research funding as well as substantial increases to the endowment tax” paw.princeton.edu/article/prin...
tough climate for the Surgeon General nominee when this is the headline in People Magazine
Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.
Incredible reporting by the Washington Post on the Trump administration's hurried, lawless effort to carry out illegal renditions to El Salvador - to terrorize people. (Including how they violated court directives.) Take a moment to read the entire thing: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Join me on May 18 at 3 PM @politicsprose.bsky.social in conversation with @ddiamond.bsky.social to discuss my new book. #DietDrugsDopamine
Writing in Health Affairs, Jess Schubel of @dayonestrategies.bsky.social says that Medicaid changes under consideration would "amount to the largest cut to the Medicaid program in its history" and eliminate Biden-era improvements to the program.
Part of this job is trying to read (and listen) to everything! Consuming ≠ endorsing
Got this book after former Sen. Alan Simpson died last month + just started reading. He spends several pages extolling segregationist colleague Strom Thurmond + blasting a 1992 Post story about Thurmond’s alleged biracial daughter as “crap,” “sludge,” fake news. Just one problem: it was true.
But some more traditional conservatives have broken with the president. And now comes today's polling data. “The obvious lesson here for Democrats is stop overthinking everything,” said Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America. “You can’t win an argument if you never join the conversation, so fight.”
The White House has spent weeks amplifying its message — adding friendly outlets like Tim Pool and Gateway Pundit to the press pool, and inviting Patty Morin's mom to speak. And in the pro-Trump media bubble, it's worked. The conversation about Abrego García is totally different on left v. right.
Trump has been telling a story about Kilmar Abrego García — that he's dangerous, didn't deserve a trial and belongs in prison in El Salvador. New polling shows the public isn't buying it. By 42-26 margin, Americans think he should be brought back. w @ence.bsky.social @emgusk.bsky.social
Trying to imagine how I’d explain this headline to myself in 2015, let alone three months ago.
Grateful to WaPo editors for putting this story on the front page today. And appreciate incredible colleagues like @faizsays.bsky.social, @jeffstein.bsky.social, @hannahnatanson.bsky.social, @emilydavies.bsky.social and many more as we’ve teamed up to cover the tentacles of DOGE.
Elon Musk yelled at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the West Wing. Then he lost a fight with him. Then he unfollowed him on X. Our story tracing Musk's rocky, chaotic 100 days in government — and the damage he's set to leave behind. @faizsays.bsky.social @jeffstein.bsky.social + Trisha Thadani.
Courtesy of HUBRIS MAXIMUS, the backstory on the time Elon Musk asked the chair of the Senate Finance Committee this:
“If ever there was a time to fire off the lewdest possible joke about a powerful senator, this was not it.” From @faizsays.bsky.social’s new book, HUBRIS MAXIMUS, about a 2021 episode when Elon mocked then-Senate finance chair @wyden.senate.gov + staff’s private alarm about their boss’ behavior.
THE Ohio State's defense
Honestly I expected them to do this against the SEC first
Just wait til one of the schools leaves to join the SEC alliance
“Many professors contacted said the proposed compact was vital to ensure they are protected from a White House that has cut research funding, revoked visas of international students and tried to direct curriculum at some institutions.“ story from @benbrasch.bsky.social @mollyhf.bsky.social
where we are in 2025: major universities seeking a mutual-protection treaty against the U.S. president
Also, as we approach 100 days of President Trump: thanks to the readers who have come with us, and the sources who have helped us reveal the workings of this White House. We continue to report without fear or favor. No one is telling us what to write. You can judge for yourself @washingtonpost.com.
Really great interview with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social, our tireless reporter covering the federal government and DOGE, on how she does her job, breaks so many scoops and the responsibility she feels to tell federal workers’ stories. (And it’s a podcast, so no paywall.)
