FDA on CrossGov.com

CRS Report on Appropriations for Rural Development Programs, Proposals for FY2027

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Government Accountability Office report examined appropriations proposals for Rural Development programs for fiscal year 2027. These programs are administered by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Utilities Service, and Rural Housing Service within the Department of Agriculture. Congress funds these programs through annual appropriations acts.

GAO Findings on RUS Programs

Appropriations for water and waste disposal programs administered by RUS decreased from $478.5 million in FY2025 to $445.9 million in FY2026. Loan authority for these programs rose from $910 million in FY2025 to $1.1 billion in FY2026. The President’s FY2027 budget requested lower levels for both appropriations and loan authority compared to FY2026. H.R. 8646 proposed decreasing overall appropriations for rural water programs by $385.3 million in FY2027 versus FY2026. Congress may consider the role of Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending in project selection for these programs.

FDA Tells a Federal Court Its Mifepristone Safety Review Will Run to March 2027, Ruling Out Changes Before the Midterms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In a court-ordered status report filed on October 7 in the Western District of Louisiana, the FDA said its safety review of mifepristone, the drug used in most US medication abortions, is “on track to obtain study results by mid-December 2026.” It expects to finish its report “not later than March 2027,” and only then decide whether to change how the drug can be prescribed.

That means no federal change before the November 3 election. Telehealth prescribing and mail delivery, made permanent by the FDA in 2023, stay in effect.

FDA Under an Acting Commissioner: Six CDER Chiefs in Two Years, 46 Novel Approvals in 2026 and PDUFA VIII Out for Comment

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 9, 2026, the FDA approved Hovilpri, an antiviral, as its 46th novel drug of the year. That already matches all of 2025, when the agency’s drug center approved 46 new drugs, down from 50 in 2024. By that measure, the FDA’s core work is holding up.

The agency around it has been in constant motion. The FDA has no confirmed commissioner. Marty Makary, confirmed in March 2025, resigned on May 12, 2026. Kyle Diamantas has been acting commissioner since. The President’s nominee, Heidi Overton, had her Senate HELP committee hearing on September 24 and is waiting for a vote.

FDA's Red No. 3 Ban Takes Effect January 15, 2027, but the Wider Food Dye Phase-Out Is Still Voluntary

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On August 5 the FDA rejected the last legal objection to its ban on Red No. 3, a petroleum-based dye used in candy and baked goods. That confirmed the deadline: from January 15, 2027, the dye can’t be used in food sold in the US. Ingested drugs have until January 2028.

The FDA revoked Red No. 3 in January 2025 under the Delaney Clause, which bars additives shown to cause cancer in animals. It’s the only petroleum dye removal so far backed by a binding federal rule.

Medicare's First Negotiated Part B Drug Prices Are Due November 30 as the MFN Pricing Model Shrinks From $11.9 Billion to $440 Million in Savings

Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By November 30 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must publish the negotiated prices for the third group of drugs under the Medicare drug price negotiation program. For the first time the list includes drugs given in doctors’ offices, covered by Medicare Part B: Botox, Entyvio, Orencia, Xolair and Cimzia among them. The 15 drugs cost Medicare $27 billion over twelve months to October 2025. The new prices take effect in 2028.

FDA Becomes a Tool of Industrial Policy: Priority Vouchers, PreCheck and the 100% Pharma Tariff That Most Big Drugmakers Avoid

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On April 1, 2026, the FDA approved Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, an obesity pill, 50 days after the company filed. Standard reviews take about ten months. The speed came from a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, a program launched in June 2025 that promises reviews in one to two months for drugs the agency judges to serve national priorities. Two of the first nine vouchers went to products made in the US.