Former heart surgeon and TV pitchman Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed Thursday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Oz became the agency’s administrator in a party line 53-45 Senate vote.

The 64-year-old will manage health insurance programs for roughly half the country, with oversight of Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. He steps into the new role as Congress is debating cuts to the Medicaid program, which provides coverage to millions of poor and disabled Americans.

Oz has not said yet whether he would oppose such cuts to the government-funded program, instead offering a vision of promoting healthier lifestyles, integrating artificial intelligence and telehealth into the system, and rethinking rural health care delivery.

During a hearing last month, he told senators that he did favor work requirements for Medicaid recipients, but paperwork shouldn’t be used to reaffirm that they are working or to block people from staying enrolled.

Oz, who worked for years a respected heart surgeon at Columbia University, also noted that doctors dislike Medicaid for its relatively low payments and some don’t want to take those patients.

Brown University to lose $510M in grants

The Trump administration intends to block $510 million in federal contracts and grants for Brown University, expanding its campaign to hold universities accountable for what it says is relentless antisemitism on campus, according to two White House officials familiar with the plans.

Brown became the fifth university known to face a potentially dire loss of federal funding, leaving other universities that the administration has targeted wondering when their turn might come.

If the administration pauses $510 million, even over a period of years, the consequences for Brown could be significant. In its 2024 fiscal year, Brown received about $184 million through federal grants and contracts.

In an email to campus leaders on Thursday, Brown’s provost, Frank Doyle, said the university was aware of “troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants.” But he said that the university had “no information to substantiate any of these rumors.”

Senate bill would give Congress tariff power

Amid a widening trade war launched by President Donald Trump, Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell is leading a bipartisan push to give Congress more authority in setting tariffs.

Cantwell on Thursday introduced legislation that would limit the ability of the president to impose tariffs unilaterally. Cantwel co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Under the legislation, all new tariffs would expire in 60 days unless they are approved by Congress. When enacting a new tariff, the president would have to notify Congress within 48 hours and include the reasoning behind imposing the tariff. The explanation would have to have an analysis of the tariff’s potential impact on businesses and consumers.

The bill is the first bipartisan legislation in the Senate that attempts to limit Trump’s tariff powers, Cantwell’s office said.

The legislation is modeled after the War Powers Resolution, legislation from 1973 that forbids armed forces from remaining in military action overseas for more than 60 days without congressional approval.

Judge again assails deportation actions

A federal judge said Thursday that the Trump administration may have “acted in bad faith” by trying to rush Venezuelan migrants out of the country before a court could block their deportations.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington pressed a Justice Department lawyer to explain the government’s actions in a high-stakes court hearing to determine whether the administration ignored his orders to turn around planes that were carrying deportees to El Salvador.

The judge said he could issue a ruling as soon as next week on whether there are grounds to find anyone in contempt of court for defying the court order.

Boasberg ordered the administration last month not to deport anyone in its custody under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law Trump invoked over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The judge also ordered that any planes with Venezuelan immigrants that were already in the air be returned to the United States. That did not happen.

Boasberg said it appeared the administration had tried to get the deportees out of the country as quickly as possible before a court could step in.

Trump counters speaker on proxy vote question

President Donald Trump on Thursday threw his support behind a bipartisan effort to allow proxy voting for new parents in Congress, dealing a major blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempts to kill the measure.

“You’re having a baby, you should be able to call in and vote,” Trump told reporters flying to Florida with him aboard Air Force One. “I’m in favor of that.”

The president’s endorsement of the plan came after he spoke with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has been pushing for a resolution that would allow lawmakers to vote remotely for up to 12 weeks after the birth of a child. There is no parental leave from voting for lawmakers.

And it appeared to force Johnson’s hand to make some concession to Luna. On social media, Luna wrote that the speaker called her after Trump’s comment.

This week, Johnson tried unsuccessfully to block the resolution from reaching the House floor. He then canceled votes for the remainder of the week, prolonging a battle it’s not clear he can win and effectively freezing the House floor until the issue is resolved.

Trump sees Musk leaving post soon

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Elon Musk would likely leave his administration in “a few months,” the clearest sign that his most powerful and disruptive adviser will be wrapping up his work inside the government.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that “Elon is fantastic” but he has “a number of companies to run.”

“I want him to stay as long as possible,” he said. “There’s going to be a point where he’s going to have to leave.”

Musk has spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency, which is playing a role in downsizing and overhauling the federal government. Trump said that work would continue within various agencies.

— From news services