Republicans seek deep cuts to HIV prevention and treatment funding Cuts proposed by the Trump administration and House Republicans could drive up new HIV cases by more than 200,000 by 2030, one expert projects, I report for @NBCNews. In his 2019 State of the Union address, President Donald Trump pledged to boost HIV spending, with the lofty goal of bringing the nation’s epidemic to heel by 2030. Last year, this federal initiative,Ending the HIV Epidemic, demonstrated progress. This year, however, Republicans are seeking deep cuts to HIV prevention and treatment funding. The Trump administration proposed in its 2026 budget request to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HIV-prevention division, and House Republicans are seeking nearly $2 billion in HIV-related cuts in their federal health spending bill. The Senate, on the other hand, proposes to keep HIV funding essentially at current levels in its corresponding proposal. “Donald Trump and House Republicans are cutting lifesaving programs to the bone so they can give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin@SenatorBaldwin, D-Wis., who co-wrote the bipartisan health spending bill in the Senate.

My two favorite things about Leslie Manville: 1. The officious way she ate Rolos in Secrets and Lies. 2. How coolly she said, “I’ll eat you alive” in Phantom Thread.

I wrote in February: Trump’s Assault On Aid for HIV Abroad benryan.substack.com/p/trump… The Trump administration's freeze of all foreign aid has thrown a major program to prevent and treat HIV in poor nations into chaos and put millions of lives in jeopardy.

Baker suggests that the Seattle mayor’s race could be extremely close, perhaps coming down to just a few thousand votes:

The Seattle mayor’s race has tightened dramatically on day 4 of counting the all-mail-in ballots: Bruce Harrell, the Democratic incumbent: 50.74% Katie Wilson, the progressive challenger: 48.86%

Update: A coalition of 30 Pacific Northwest LGBTQ groups have signed on to a letter condemning Washington State University @WSU for accrediting the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) @SEGM_EBM's continuing medical education (CME) courses. They demand: "1. Revoke SEGM’s CME accreditation and remove all related courses from WSU platforms. "2. Implement stronger review and oversight procedures to ensure all CME partnerships align with evidence-based medicine, professional ethics, and WSU’s own non-discrimination and equity policies. "3. Make gender-affirming care curriculum a required component of medical education and training within the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine."

A Decade Later, Supreme Court Is Asked to Revisit Same-Sex Marriage Decision Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk once jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, has asked the court to reconsider its landmark 2015 opinion. nytimes.com/2025/11/07/us/po…

NEW: The Sierra Club embraced social justice. Then it tore itself apart. nytimes.com/2025/11/07/us/po…

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jU…

Link: storage.courtlistener.com/re…

NEWS: The 6th Circuit (en banc) strikes down an Ohio school district’s pronoun policy, ruling it violates students’ First Amendment rights. The court finds that schools can't compel students to observe preferred pronouns and punish misgendering under Tinker. "The Supreme Court’s cases provide a clear answer. A school district may not restrict personal speech on matters of public concern unless the speech would 'materially and substantially disrupt' school activities or infringe the legal 'rights of others' in the school community. Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 513 (1969)."

Baker estimates she needs about 55% of the remaining haul to win:

Mike Baker says it’ll be close:

My math could be off, but I think Wilson needs about 58% of the remaining tally to win.

On day three of counting the all-mail-in ballots, Seattle’s incumbent mayor, Bruce Harrell, retains a comfortable if slightly narrowed lead over the progressive challenger who bested him in the primary, Katie Wilson: 52.6% to 46.9%.

NEWS: Jury finds D.C. ‘sandwich guy’ not guilty of assaulting officer Sean C. Dunn admitted he flung the hoagie at a federal agent. His attorneys called it a “harmless gesture” of protest as Trump commandeered D.C. police. washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/…

One of the fired workers speaks out:

Dr. Oz projects that cheaper GLP-1 weight-loss drugs will help Americans lose 135 billion pounds by the midterms. That’s 415 pounds per person, given there are 325 million Americans.

Fallout from the layoffs at Teen Vogue:

Also: Detransitioner Lawsuit Against Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy Is Dismissed benryan.substack.com/p/detra… Attorneys for a former patient of the controversial top pediatric gender medicine doctor could not overcome California’s strict three-year statute of limitations. They intend to appeal.

Pressure by Transgender Activists Forces Washington State University To Suspend Courses Critical of Medical Gender Treatments for Minors nysun.com/article/pressure-b… WSU’s med school accredits physician-education courses from a nonprofit that’s skeptical of this field but comes under scrutiny from transgender activist-journalists and a national accreditation body.