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Shaping the New Economy: White House touts brighter 2026; High Court challenges NHS puberty blocker trial over ethics and safety for hundreds of children
The People Shaping the New Economy
The People Shaping the New Economy aren’t filing neatly under red or blue anymore. In Washington, influence now threads through a wider network of traditional gatekeepers, ideological outliers, private-sector dealmakers, and policy entrepreneurs—Semafor corrals the lot to map who’s moving capital, shaping policy, and redrawing the blueprint of power. On the menu: Sen. Josh Hawley weighing Congress’s fidelity to the Trump agenda, ACA subsidy expirations, left-right linkups with Bernie Sanders, and why kids’ social media rules remain a legislative ghost; Sen. Bill Hagerty pressing deposit insurance expansion, crypto market structure, and the prospect of a second reconciliation; and Sen. Mark Warner eyeing Venezuela dynamics and AI’s economic risks. From the White House, Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair sizes up reconciliation, health care, and how Republicans plan to turn out voters without Trump on the ballot. Consider it Washington’s new economy: less left vs. right, more who actually has the juice.
Senior White House aide says Americans will feel better about the economy in early 2026
Senior White House aide says Americans will feel better about the economy in early 2026, with deputy chief of staff James Blair predicting that by tax-filing season voters will “see a lot of relief” as the Trump administration climbs out of what it calls the Biden-era inflation hole. Blair says the fundamentals are solid and the gripe is affordability—though voter discontent is denting Trump’s approval while the president himself labeled affordability a “hoax” at a Pennsylvania rally. Blair credited the administration’s rebuilding, teased tariff-funded rebate checks that many Republicans dislike, and left the door open to another reconciliation bill while touting “bipartisan pathways.” On health care, he knocked Democrats’ test vote on extending enhanced Obamacare credits but said the White House is open to a deal—and even a plan that extends subsidies with changes—adding, “They have our phone numbers.”
NHS-backed puberty blocker trial challenged in High Court over ethics and safety concerns for hundreds of children
NHS-backed puberty blocker trial challenged in High Court over ethics and safety concerns for hundreds of children: Three claimants—the Bayswater Support Group, psychotherapist James Esses, and detransitioner Keira Bell—have fired a pre-action shot at the MHRA and Health Research Authority to halt the £10.69m PATHWAY trial, which plans to enroll about 226 children under 16. They argue the study is unethical, risks harm with weak evidence of benefit, and can’t isolate drug effects given concurrent psychological support. The trial, led by King’s College London and South London and Maudsley with NHS England, would randomize participants to receive puberty blockers immediately or after a one-year delay; there’s no placebo, with outcomes tracked via wellbeing surveys, bone scans, and brain development assessments over two years. The challenge lands after Health Secretary Wes Streeting—now an Interested Party alongside the NHS and KCL—banned routine prescribing of blockers to minors in 2024 following the Cass Review, while the Commission on Human Medicines deemed use outside controlled research an unacceptable risk. Claimants warn of potential long-term impacts on bone density, fertility, sexual development, and brain function, say the trial window is too short to answer safety questions, and threaten an injunction if recruitment is imminent. Study lead Prof Emily Simonoff counters that families need high-quality evidence, the research will balance potential mental health benefits against risks, and it will be the first to closely examine effects on brain development. In other words, Westminster has managed to declare the drugs too risky to prescribe, unless you’re prescribing them in a trial to find out if they’re too risky to prescribe.
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