On July 23rd, 2025, a House Subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Epstein files. During that time, the Subcommittee agreed to redact the names and personal information to protect the victims. However, in January 2026, with the release of more than 3 million more documents, that agreement was not fulfilled.
Pronatalism is the belief that our society’s duty is to encourage people to have more children (National Women’s Law Center). This belief is rooted in boosting the economy, embracing eugenics, and increasing white nationalism. Elon Musk is echoing this belief by stating that the answer to saving civilization is by having more children. Except that sentiment does not ring true for everyone. And it is not reflective in the Trump Administration’s policies and actions.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as Obamacare) was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. The ACA aimed to make healthcare more affordable to more people, expand Medicaid to individuals with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level, and for private health insurance, prohibit insurers from denying coverage due to preexisting health conditions and from denying coverage to people.
The future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not fully determined, but it will continue to have a significant impact on our society and the way we live. The ways it currently impacts society are through improvements in efficiency, productivity, and accessibility. Self-driving cars relying on AI, AI-powered robots are used to provide aid and assistance in the healthcare system, and AI security systems are used to automate threat detection, among other examples. Although AI creates positive advantages and impacts, it also creates negative effects. The negative effects cover the environment, employment and other fields. These examples are often caused by products that use and incorporate AI, but what (potential) harm is created due to inaccuracies within the actual systems of AI?
There has been deep curiosity, unsettling truths, and controversies surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and the Epstein files. The public has been pushing for and putting pressure on the Trump Administration to release the documents. Democrats, however, are making efforts to disclose the Epstein files. On July 23rd, a House subcommittee voted 8-2 to subpoena the Department of Justice for the Epstein files.
Before the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022, concerns were raised about the potential effects and consequences it would have on reproductive rights. After the overturning, those concerns have come into fruition, and have not only affected the rights to an abortion, but also the rights to bodily autonomy.
Since Trump’s attack on the Department of Education, there has been some confusion surrounding the future of student loans. During the Biden Administration, there were discussions on a $20,000 loan forgiveness plan for each borrower, but that has since been struck down by the Supreme Court. Since then, there have been no discussed plans of mass loan forgiveness, but instead, mandatory loan repayments will be enacted.
Amid the current political unrest, citizens have voiced their concerns through social media. Voicing one’s differences of opinions without government interference is an American right, but that right has since been under attack.
On February 11th, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal workforce and to reduce the size of the government and federal spending. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is executing that mission, echoing the need to regulate government spending and amplify government efficiency. Recently Musks’s actions to summarily layoff federal workers have been successfully challenged in the courts. In all probability the Trump administration will appeal some of the court decisions; so it remains to be seen whether or not Trump’s downsizing of the federal workforce will succeed.
Brief #113 – Health & Gender Policy
By Maria De Jesus, theconversation.com
Public health experts estimate that approximately 70% of the world’s 7.9 billion people must be fully vaccinated to end the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 21, 2021, 10.04% of the global population had been fully vaccinated, nearly all of them in rich countries.