Shawn Zeller, POLITICO Journalist Profile

Articles

Pharma’s silver lining: A tax break

1 week ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

Threats to drugmakers have come fast and furious during President Donald Trump’s first five months in office, from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s broadsides about drug safety to Trump’s call for lower prices and tariffs. But at least pharmaceutical companies can look forward to a big tax break. How so?
State AI laws could get a reprieve

1 week ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

The 10-year moratorium on state laws regulating artificial intelligence that House Republicans included in they passed last month faces a rocky road, our Anthony Adragna reports. In the House, GOP leaders are getting blowback from conservative members who see the provision as a violation of states’ rights. In the Senate, the provision could be struck by the parliamentarian.
The Hill gets to work on Trump’s budget

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

President Donald Trump has proposed massive cuts to health agencies as part of his fiscal 2026 budget plan. This week will reveal more about whether lawmakers plan to sign off. A Senate Appropriations panel will hear from National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya on Tuesday about the administration’s plan to slash 40 percent from the agency’s budget and reorganize its various research centers.
SUPPORT Act’s rocky road ahead

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Carmen Paun

The House plans to try again soon to reauthorize the landmark opioid-fighting law President Donald Trump signed during his first term. The SUPPORT Act expired nearly two years ago, though Congress has continued to fund the programs it authorized. The original act authorized billions of dollars in treatment, prevention and recovery funding, including programs for opioid abuse and expanded access to addiction medicines such as buprenorphine. More than to it in preparation for a floor vote.
The UN plan to make the world healthy again

1 month ago | politico.com | Carmen Paun |Shawn Zeller

The United Nations is working on a make-the-world-healthy agenda for 2030. How so: World leaders are meeting September 25 on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to discuss preventing and controlling noncommunicable diseases and promoting mental health and well-being. Participating leaders — names are still to be confirmed — are expected to adopt a political declaration that, while not legally binding, pressures governments to align behind the same goals.
Kennedy set for another Hill face-off

1 month ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will again make the case this week for an unprecedented downsizing of federal agencies — this time before a Senate Appropriations panel on Tuesday. The panel’s chair is someone who’s already found fault with the downsizing: West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito. Last week, Kennedy rehired mine-worker-safety staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Morgantown, West Virginia, office .
RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda explained

1 month ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

President Donald Trump’s plan to make huge cuts to health care programs in the coming fiscal year will get its first airing in Congress this week with a marquee witness: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Expect Republican lawmakers to let Kennedy tout his Make America Healthy Again initiative to combat chronic disease, while Democrats hone in on the massive cuts the administration has proposed for the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies.
Patent fight: Pharma vs. tech

1 month ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Danny Nguyen

A bipartisan group of Senate and House members has coalesced around proposed legislation to boost patent protections, our Anthony Adragna reports. Set to gain: inventors of medical diagnostics, biotechnology, personalized medicine and artificial intelligence. They’d gain more certainty that their inventions are patentable. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are the chief sponsors of the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act in the Senate.
Europe’s AI rules are coming

2 months ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

The Trump administration has made it clear it is more concerned about making way for innovation in artificial intelligence than in regulating it for safety — most decidedly in Vice President JD Vance’s in Paris two months ago. But Europe is moving ahead with its plans to enforce its AI Act starting 16 months from now anyway, our Claudia Chiappa reports.
Medtech to Trump: We want AI regulation

2 months ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

In scrapping his predecessor’s plans for regulating artificial intelligence in health care, President Donald Trump has promised an industry-friendly approach focused on spurring innovation. A new report from AdvaMed, the Washington lobbying arm of the medical device industry, lean too far into his laissez-faire inclinations. In fact, the group, which represents major device makers, including Medtronic, Stryker and Abbott, sees the need for a big government role.