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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 11m

One would think…

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 57m

What could go wrong

a close up of a cartoon character 's face with purple eyes and a purple lip .

Alt: a close up of a cartoon character 's face with a big smile and bright eyes but the right eye is twitching nervously

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social · 1h

The CDC’s Poxvirus & Rabies Branch—key to monitoring the only disease ever eradicated, #smallpox was reportedly RIF’d in the recent “Friday Massacre.”

Two labs in the world retain live variola virus (U.S. & Russia) and raises serious questions for global health security and oversight.

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1h

💯
This would cover a very broad range of fields of development but could have a huge impact on DOD medical research: trauma, ID, neuro & behavioral health, health systems & epidemiology work and so much more, plus the CDMRP portfolio that is all the more important given NIH cuts

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 2h

Troops wondering if the funds are you going to get clawed back bsky.app/profile/pwhi...

Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

“Those options include Trump shifting available funds”

The cherry on top of all of this would be the administration doing something illegal to pay the troops, and then DFAS pulls the money back later and folks get a “no pay due” LES 🫠

www.politico.com/live-updates...

Trump could shift funds to pay troops, White House officials say

GOP congressional leaders are resisting standalone military pay legislation, fearing it will take pressure off Democrats.

www.politico.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 2h

Right now there is someone at DFAS reviewing their training briefs to see if they will carry pecuniary liability on allocating $8B in R&D funds for MilPay if it later turns out to be found not “legal, proper, correct” to issue the payments

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Mike @mcgwh.bsky.social · 17h

Should this go unchallenged by Congress, likely a fait accompli, it will set a precedent for the WH to use impoundment and rescission to deny and/or reallocate funding appropriated by Congress going forward.

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 3h

a man wearing a headband is sitting at a table looking at a computer screen .

Alt: a man wearing a headband is sitting at a table looking at a computer screen . He turns to look over his shoulder with a grimacing half smile

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Caitlin Rivers @cmyeaton.bsky.social · 19h

I can't get over how the CDC layoffs are coming less than two months after the attempted mass shooting. The agency is being taken apart brick by brick. The public servants there do not deserve this.

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 13h

New reports that RIF notices went out in error and are being rescinded… should we take bets on whether it’s a small number as a fig leaf or the full 1,257?

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 20h

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 13h

SAMHSA is responsible for overseeing the new 988 suicide prevention hotline. It also gives out billions in grants for mental health and addiction services. It was created in 1992 through bipartisan legislation signed by then-President George H.W. Bush.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Trump slashes mental health agency as shutdown drags on

Sources tell NPR that more than 100 employees have been laid off at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had some cuts reversed late Saturday.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 16h

So now the Administration are saying that the mass firing of CDC scientists, including many responsible for preventing outbreaks, was an “error” and many will be brought back.

Whether by intention or incompetence, dismantling public health will kill people.

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 21h

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 17h

You never know 🤷‍♂️

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 17h

I am officially a member of the elder girl-dad club. I can no longer immediately distinguish if the screams from the neighbors 4/5 year old is exuberant joy or getting mauled by a dingo

a close up of a brown surface with a lot of small stones on it .

Alt: a close up of a brown surface with a lot of small stones on it . Then a meerkat pops a head up out of a hole and looks around

media.tenor.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 18h

But AUSA continues…

“We have families that have their household goods picked up, they've cleared housing, & they go to do their final home appointment at their installation, & it's not until then… that they're told that they can't go anywhere & that they're stuck”

www.stripes.com/branches/arm...

Army leaves families in limbo with suspension of in-progress PCS moves

The Army has suspended in-progress permanent-change-of-station moves for the entirety of the federal government shutdown, leaving some families in limbo.

www.stripes.com

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

🎃 Trick or Pete 🎃 Lucier @peterlucier.bsky.social · 22h

There is a cost insulation mechanism, a defensive projection of the mind, that wants to believe: things may be bad, but those who really need or deserve it will be ok. The worst will be avoided. Surely there’s a program…

To that, I say: recall that the admin is trying to get rid of commissaries

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile, the administration continues firing outbreak response investigators and those with other key roles at CDC

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 1d

153 kids are in quarantine in South Carolina.

118 kids in Minneapolis.

This is what happens when we ignore the science.

When we stop vaccinating, long eradicated diseases come back.

The kids deserve better than this. Measles can disable. It can kill. And it’s completely preventable.

Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks

At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.

www.nbcnews.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

I say that to most of my consult patients as well

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

FFS

“I can’t tell you a single actionable initiative to come out of it,” the second official said.”

Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 1d

What??! Why?!

edition.cnn.com/2025/10/09/p...

US Army accepting roughly $1 million donation to bring senior leaders to DC conference as troops brace for missed paycheck | CNN Politics

The US Army is accepting a donation of roughly $1 million for the travel and lodging of senior leaders to a professional development conference in Washington, DC, next week, as active duty forces are ...

edition.cnn.com

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Reposted by Patrick Hickey, MD

UW Infectious Disease Fellowship Program @uwidfellowship.bsky.social · 2d

No MMWR update yesterday due to gov’t shutdown so we’ll run with last week’s update on Tularemia! Fluoroquinolones and doxycycline now first line treatment… #IDSky

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

One of my main takeaways from this, besides Ladapo being a charlatan, is the question: why are so many Navy SEALs so f’ing weird as well

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 1d

Florida’s surgeon general’s anti-vax beliefs are only the tip of a very deeply weird iceberg.

Joseph Ladapo’s guiding voice? His wife, who believes she can talk to “Archangel Michael, Mary Magdalene, and many other beings of light.”

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

“Those options include Trump shifting available funds”

The cherry on top of all of this would be the administration doing something illegal to pay the troops, and then DFAS pulls the money back later and folks get a “no pay due” LES 🫠

www.politico.com/live-updates...

Trump could shift funds to pay troops, White House officials say

GOP congressional leaders are resisting standalone military pay legislation, fearing it will take pressure off Democrats.

www.politico.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats to her!

Sassy Girl GIF

Alt: Sassy Girl GIF A young girl wearing a large white scarf puts on a pair of large sunglasses while holding a coffee mug, looking very large and in charge for such a small Person

media.tenor.com

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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 1d

I’m not a betting man, but if I was, it would be that the troops miss two paychecks before this is all over.

“the Chair announced the Speaker's designation of the period from Tuesday, October 14, 2025, through Sunday, October 19, 2025, as a "district work period"

The screen shot from the House of Representatives website that has an itemized list of official actions, one of which at 12:33 PM states”the Chair announced the Speaker's designation of the period from Tuesday, October 14, 2025, through Sunday, October 19, 2025, as a "district work period"”

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