Donald Trump signs a women's health order for a gutted NIH

By Josie Calloway · Reporting from Pittsburgh ·

Donald Trump created a women's health division at the NIH while cutting its budget, a move that masks systemic failures as female voters leave the party.

A Rose Garden show for a starved agency

President Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. He signed an executive order to create a women's health division within the National Institutes of Health. CBS News says the order also starts a White House Women's Health Task Force. First lady Melania Trump called it a big moment. Al Jazeera reported that she wants to find cures so women can live life to the fullest. President Trump said it was her idea. The Washington Post says the announcement comes as the president faces eroding support among female voters.

The show was grand. The facts are not. Al Jazeera says the NIH laid off thousands. Its workforce is at a low point. The agency had to cut 35 percent of its budget. That is a $2.6 billion drop. In early 2025, the administration froze 2,600 grants. In April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services ended contracts for the Women's Health Initiative. This was the largest study on older women. It looked at cancer and heart disease. You cannot build a wing while you wreck the foundation.

Smoke and mirrors for the midterm polls

The Trump administration's health policy (2017-2021) is an example of a realist "America First" policy. Stephen Miller said the U.S. is a superpower. He said it will conduct itself that way. Donald Trump calls this the "Donroe Doctrine." It is expansionist in some places and isolationist in others. This health order is a show of power. But it ignores the actual health of the people.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2009-2016) was a landmark federal statute. It was a significant regulatory overhaul. It expanded coverage for many. This new order is different. Euronews says the new division has 90 days to start. It must look at endometriosis and clinical trials. But CBS News says the president gave no specifics on care. Al Jazeera says the order has no funding targets. You do not fix a crisis with a blank sheet of paper and a photo op.

Putting the fox in charge of the hen house

The leaders of this task force show the problem. Susie Wiles and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are in charge. Trump noted Wiles beat breast cancer. CBS News says she was diagnosed in March 2026. She was cancer-free by September. She should fight for the system. Instead, she works with Kennedy. He is the HHS secretary. He fired mass amounts of health workers. He dismantled scientific panels. He is an anti-science conspiracist. You cannot save women's health while you starve the NIH of billions.

The new division will fail. It cannot give out research money. The workforce is too small. The grant systems are frozen. Grants totaling $1.4 billion are suspended. The patients are the ones who will get sick. They are the ones who will pay.

Sources

  1. The Washington Post: Trump announces women’s health initiative amid weak support from female voters
  2. CBS News: Trump signs executive order creating women's health division within NIH
  3. Al Jazeera: Trump signs order launching women’s health division at NIH, White House
  4. Euronews: Trump signs order aimed at boosting women’s health research