Sam Wang is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Sam covers politics on Capitol Hill, and U.S.-China relations. 

Sam Wang

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

Citizens React to Communist Cuba in Crisis

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Federal Agencies Announce ‘Summer Surge’ of Law Enforcement into DC Ahead of 250th Anniversary

Christina Corona is a California-based reporter for NTD News. She primarily covers California news, politics, and entertainment.  

Christina Corona

Trump Administration Reports Zero Border Releases

Arian Pasdar is an international correspondent for NTD News based in South America. His reporting focuses on immigration and key events in Latin America.

Arian Pasdar

US to Host First Ever World Cup Final Halftime Show, Featuring Shakira, Madonna

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

Californians React as Trump Calls for Gas Tax Suspension

Jack Bradley is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Jack previously anchored "NTD Newsroom" and worked as an assistant producer for the show. 

Jack Bradley

China’s Broken Promises Loom Over New Trade Deals

Chris Bob is a reporter for NTD and a host of "Profiles of Service." He is also a small business owner. Chris graduated from Union College with a concentration in politics and religion in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Chris Bob

House Passes First Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Bill

Dave Martin is NTD's Senior Sports Reporter and sports analyst. He also hosts "Data Hub" segments during NTD's special election coverage, "The Nation Decides."

Dave Martin

Cavs, Spurs Can Clinch as NBA Playoffs Resume

Savannah Pointer is a politics reporter for The Epoch Times. She can be reached at savannah.pointer@epochtimes.us

Savannah Hulsey Pointer

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's National Security Correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

Health News

Texas Children's Hospital to Open First-Ever Detransition Clinic Under Deal With DOJ

Citizens Honor Police for Their Service and Sacrifice

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 16)

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 14)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 11)

Don Ma is an anchor and senior business correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Don is the anchor and producer of NTD's "Business Matters," which airs weekdays at 4:30 pm ET.

Don Ma

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 10)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 9)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSd8zFoSHqo">presented</a> the department’s proposed deep budget cuts and major reorganization to a Senate committee, arguing that the changes are necessary to reduce bureaucracy and redirect much-needed funds to initiatives that directly impact public health .

Kennedy faced sharp questioning from senators on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee regarding the Trump administration's fiscal 2026 budget proposal, which includes significant reductions to certain programs, ranging from biomedical research to public health preparedness and maternal and child health initiatives. Senators voiced concerns that the cuts could severely undermine critical health services and research capabilities.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed Kennedy on proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), highlighting estimates of billions in lost funding and thousands of grant reductions for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes research groups. Sanders also challenged Kennedy on his past statements regarding vaccines, accusing him of undermining public trust in childhood immunization programs for diseases like measles.

“In the first three months of this year, the National Institute of Health has been effectively cut by $2.7 billion, a 35 percent cut, reversing over a decade of investment in medical research,” Sanders said. “Cancer research has been slashed by 31 percent.”

Kennedy stated that his policy on NIH cuts was to ensure no “working scientists” were lost and that their research continues. He also mentioned an intention to “recalibrate NIH research” to also address conditions like nutrition and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, and long COVID effects.

“I am 100% committed to finding treatments for long COVID,” Kennedy said, adding that he is “deeply involved in that” personally due to having a son affected by long COVID, and that everybody at the CDC is “committed to these kinds of studies.” He noted that funding for the long COVID research had been <a href="https://cen.acs.org/policy/research-funding/NIH-restores-long-COVID-grants/103/web/2025/03">cut</a> by an executive order from the White House but had since been reinstated.

Sen. Chris Murphy (R-Alaska) specifically questioned Kennedy about his previous statements regarding the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, asking if he was recommending it. There have been 14 measles outbreaks with 1,001 confirmed cases reported so far this year, per CDC data.

Kennedy said he is committed to “radical transparency” and his pledge to tell the truth, adding that he is not going “to just tell people everything is safe.” The senator later commented, “It doesn’t sound like you are [recommending the vaccine].”

RFK added that at an earlier House hearing, he had said that the MMR vaccine is the best way to prevent measles even though he has concerns about vaccine safety and transparency. He said he would “lay out the pros and cons” so that people can make their own informed decisions with their doctors.

The HHS’s proposed budget also includes cuts impacting block grants for hospital emergency preparedness, mine safety, firefighter health, and lead poisoning prevention programs.

Commenting on that, Kennedy acknowledged the CDC’s legal obligation for “national pandemic response” and said it would be improved. He maintained that in the federal government’s view, some functions are better handled locally.

He affirmed that work on mine safety and the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/">World Trade Center first responders and survivors’ medical monitoring program</a> would continue. He added that its staff were restored for the latter after backlash. Kennedy said the cuts were part of overall serious budget reductions and that “some of them should not have been made.”

Kennedy added he was unaware that the National Firefighter Cancer Registry website was no longer being updated and said he would work to fix that.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked why Kennedy shut down a program to address lead poisoning in children. Kennedy said he doesn’t intend to eliminate the CDC branch that is responsible for this program and that the appropriated funds would be spent. The senator then pressed “the entire childhood lead poisoning branch has been fired.”

Concerns were also raised about staffing reductions, including reports of impacts at the NIH Clinical Center and the <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/autism/114853">alleged</a> hiring of David Geier, who faced penalties for practicing medicine <a href="https://www.mbp.state.md.us/BPQAPP/orders/GeierOrder07.302.pdf">without a license</a>, to allegedly lead autism research at the department.

Kennedy disputed a specific claim at the heading that a patient’s clinical trial access was delayed by staffing cuts, stating the patient was medically ineligible. He also contested Baldwin’s characterization of Geier's role with the federal government.

He said Geier was hired by an independent contractor, not to lead autism research as was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/03/25/vaccine-skeptic-hhs-rfk-immunization-autism/">reported</a> citing unnamed sources but to review the CDC’s vaccine safety database, the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), that has restricted access to protect patient confidentiality. Kennedy said this was due to Geier’s unique prior access in the early 2000s that was later <a href="https://www.circare.org/autism/md/geier_20040301.pdf">revoked</a>.

Kennedy went on to emphasize the administration’s focus on addressing chronic disease through nutrition and environmental health, noting efforts to rewrite dietary guidelines to reduce industry influence and support the phasing out petroleum-based food additives. He also expressed a commitment to combating the opioid crisis and supporting health in communities of color.

On prescription drug pricing, Kennedy agreed with Sanders that the goal is for Americans to pay the “lowest prices in the world.” He also stated his support for ending tax deductibility of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising.

Following questions about Maryland’s <a href="https://www.ntd.com/nih-halts-work-at-high-level-infectious-disease-laboratory_1064935.html">Fort Detrick</a>, where HHS earlier paused research amid repeated safety concerns, Kennedy stated he closed the facility—which works with some of the world’s deadliest viruses and bacteria, including Ebola, Lassa fever, and SARS-CoV-2—and declared an “end of gain-of-function studies.”

The official earlier confirmed to The Epoch Times that, during one incident at the research facility, a researcher had poked a hole in another researcher’s protective equipment while they were handing high-risk infectious agents.

Kennedy said that he views the incident as a “deliberate criminal act equivalent to attempted murder” “because the kind of microbes, pathogens that they were handling have a very, very high case fatality rate—up to 50 percent.”

He pledged “absolute transparency” on the controversial research, including a planned trip to the site with experts.

Senators consistently pushed Kennedy for more specifics on how the proposed budget cuts and reorganization would be implemented without harming vulnerable populations or critical programs. Kennedy defended the speed of the changes, saying they were made quickly to overcome bureaucratic inertia and achieve lasting improvements, acknowledging that some mistakes might occur but can be reversed.

Latest

Paywall Related

Videos

Politics

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Free for Subscribers

Management

03_Featured

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

Congress

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

RFK Jr. Makes Case for HHS Budget Cuts, Reorganization to Congress