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The federal watchdog for the Department of Health and Human Services generated $5.56 billion in expected recoveries and projected savings over a six-month period, according to a report issued Monday, and barred just over 1,200 individuals and companies from federal programs. The HHS Office of Inspector General, in a semiannual report to Congress, said it returned $12.70 for every dollar it spent between October 2025 through March 2026. The Trump administration often cites rampant waste, fraud and abuse as justification for deep program cuts. (Weixel, 7/13)

The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan legislative scorekeeper, is examining whether giving the federal government more fraud-fighting resources could help pay for a new spending package. Republicans are making a last ditch attempt before the election to pass another party-line budget bill. President Donald Trump has asked them to include $350 billion in new defense spending. (King, 7/13)

Funding for Defense Department medical research into traumatic brain injuries has dropped by more than three-quarters in the last three fiscal years, even as the problem continues to plague U.S. servicemembers. (Donnelly, 7/13)

Newly disclosed emails reveal confusion at the State Department during the Trump administration’s push last year to destroy almost $10 million worth of family planning commodities in a Belgian warehouse that were intended for distribution in some of the world’s poorest nations. U.S. diplomats in the region were left in the dark about the supplies sitting in the warehouse in Geel, while a senior official privately shared erroneous information that suggested some of the contraceptives could be used to induce abortions. (Taylor and Kelly, 7/14)

SCAN Health Plan and Alignment Healthcare both filed lawsuits against the CMS last week after regulators refused to recalculate industry-wide MA scores using the same methodology as for Clover Health. (Parduhn, 7/13)

A group of more than a dozen state attorneys general is suing the Department of Education (DOE) for what they claim to be the unlawful termination of congressionally approved mental health grants for public school students. The lawsuit filed on Friday was done so “protectively” essentially to back up a prior lawsuit filed by states in which a federal judge issued an injunction on a plan by the department to terminate the grants. The grants in question were awarded for a five-year project period, with funding doled out year-by-year through continuation grants. (Choi, 7/13)

A payer-backed group has launched a campaign challenging a bill that would build on the No Surprises Act. The Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing (CASMB) announced on Monday that its "six-figure" campaign urges lawmakers to reject the No Surprises Act Enforcement Act, or H.R. 4710. This legislation, they argue, would "reward the actors misusing the [independent dispute resolution] process." (Minemyer, 7/13)

Top House Democrats used a Monday evening leadership meeting to debate whether to vote for legislation on the floor this week that would make daylight savings time permanent. The bill, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, advanced overwhelmingly in the House Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year as part of a package to reauthorize surface transportation programs. House GOP leaders have chosen to bring it up as a standalone measure in a sign of momentum for the long-debated legislative proposal. (Rogerson and Brugger, 7/13)