Sec Kennedy: American public will lose 125 million pounds; Eli Lilly & Novo Nordisk drastic discount

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. projected the American public will collectively lose 125 million pounds by this time next year due to the new GLP-1 weight loss drug pricing agreement with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Trump announced the drug price cuts at “200%, 300%, 500%, 700%, a little bit more than that.” Democratic Rep. Sean Casten delivered an unhinged comparison, suggesting that to understand Trump and Speaker Johnson “you have to read Joseph Stalin” — a striking escalation given Democrats had just elected a socialist (Mamdani) as NYC mayor. Minority Leader Jeffries continued blaming Republicans for the shutdown despite having voted to keep it going 14 times. California Attorney General Rob Bonta refused federal immigration enforcement cooperation. Vice President Vance called a federal court ruling requiring SNAP funding during the shutdown “absurd” — the administration is trying to triage limited resources under shutdown constraints, and a court shouldn’t be dictating priorities to the President. Vance warned that travel delays and SNAP benefit exhaustion would mount as the shutdown continued past day 40. Kennedy: “The American public, because of this agreement, will lose 125 million pounds by this time next year.” Trump: “Some of this cuts 200%, 300%, 500%, 700%, a little bit more than that.” Casten: “To understand how the President of the United States thinks, to understand how the Speaker of the House thinks, you have to read Joseph Stalin.”

125 Million Pounds

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. opened with a dramatic projection. “Everybody will be able to get this drug and we will lose the American public because of this agreement. We’ll lose 125 million pounds by this time next year.”

The math: if 10 million Americans access GLP-1 drugs due to price reductions and average 12.5 pounds of weight loss per person = 125 million pounds. This is approximately 0.6% of total American body mass — meaningful public health impact at scale.

“It is going to have dramatic effects on human health in this country.”

The health effects of weight loss at that population scale:

Reduced Type 2 diabetes incidence
Lower cardiovascular event rates
Reduced joint replacement demand
Lower cancer rates (obesity links to 13+ cancers)
Reduced sleep apnea, hypertension, kidney disease

The healthcare cost implications run into hundreds of billions annually.

”Drastic Discounts”

Trump pivoted to emphasize the price reductions. “It’s very exciting because again we’re bringing drug prices down to our whole facility and the drug was possible. And some of this cuts 200%, 300%, 500%, 700%, a little bit more than that.”

Trump’s percentage framing is colloquial (you can’t technically cut something more than 100% to zero and beyond). The scales reflect the magnitude — 500%, 700% cuts describing price reductions that are orders of magnitude.

“So today I’ve drilled for an upset that the two world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, Eli Lilly and Jovo Nordisk have agreed to offer their most popular GLP-1 weight loss drug.”

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are indeed the two largest manufacturers of GLP-1 drugs globally. Lilly (Mounjaro, Zepbound) and Novo Nordisk (Ozempic, Wegovy) dominate the market.

“I wrote the fact that we know that. At drastic discounts.”

Casten on Stalin

The transcript then captured Rep. Sean Casten’s (D-IL) extraordinary framework. “But then I think we’re also, you know, we always have this specter hanging over us of Joseph Stalin who said one death is a tragedy and a million is a statistic.”

Stalin’s quote — “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic” — is attributed to the Soviet dictator (though its precise attribution is disputed). It’s a reference to dehumanizing mass suffering.

“And I would never have thought I would be at a point where to understand how the President of the United States thinks, to understand how the Speaker of the House thinks, you have to read Joseph Stalin.”

Casten’s claim: to understand Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson’s thinking, read Stalin. The framework:

Trump and Johnson think in statistical terms about suffering
They don’t care about individual human tragedies
They are analogous to Stalin in their approach to human life

The comparison is extraordinary given:

Trump’s actual record (ending wars, reducing death globally)
The very same session where Democrats elected a declared socialist (Mamdani) as NYC mayor
Actual Stalinist policies (mass killings, gulags, artificial famines) have zero parallel to anything in the Trump administration

The charge is particularly striking given Stalin’s totalitarianism and Mamdani’s socialism sit on a spectrum that Democrats comfortably inhabit.

Day 37 Shutdown

“This is day 37 of the Trump Republican shutdown, the longest in our nation’s history.”

Day 37 at this point. Previous shutdown record: 35 days (the Dec 2018-Jan 2019 shutdown during Trump’s first term over border wall funding). This shutdown had just broken the record.

“And the American people continue to be hurt by the chaos, the confusion, the cruelty that Donald Trump and Republicans are inflicting on our nation.”

Casten’s framework blamed Trump and Republicans. This is Democrats’ standard framework — despite Democrats being the ones blocking clean CRs.

California Refuses

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s framework: “Immigration enforcement is allowed to lawfully enforce immigration laws. That is the right of the federal government. California has decided that we will not be participating in that. That’s what it means to be a pro-safety, pro-trust state. And our sovereign rights allow us to not be using our resources for immigration enforcement.”

Bonta’s position:

Federal immigration enforcement is constitutional
California won’t participate
This is “pro-safety” and “pro-trust”
Sovereign state rights include refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement

The Sanctuary City framework. Refusing to cooperate with ICE, not notifying federal authorities when releasing criminal illegal aliens, declining to honor detainers.

The “pro-trust” framing asserts that immigrant communities must trust California officials won’t turn them over to federal authorities. This framework prioritizes immigrant comfort over cooperation with federal law enforcement.

Vance on SNAP Ruling

Vice President Vance addressed a federal court ruling requiring SNAP funding during the shutdown. “It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democrat government shutdown.”

Vance’s framework: the court is telling the executive branch how to prioritize limited funds during a congressional failure. That’s constitutionally problematic — Congress makes appropriations, executive implements, judiciary adjudicates disputes. A judge ordering specific spending during a shutdown inverts the roles.

“Which what we’d like to do is for the Democrats to open up the government, of course, then we can fund SNAP. And we can also do a lot of other good things for the American people.”

The cleanest path: Democrats end the shutdown. Then SNAP is funded, federal workers paid, everything restored. The court order addresses a symptom while ignoring the cause.

”Triage”

“But in the midst of a shutdown, we can’t have a federal court telling the President how he has to triage the situation. We’re trying to keep as much turned on, we’re trying to keep as much going as possible.”

“Triage” is precise. Under shutdown conditions, limited funds must be prioritized. Which programs get continued (via contingency funds, emergency reserves), which get paused, which get partial funding — these are executive decisions based on resource availability.

“The President and the entire administration are working on that, but we’re not going to do it under the orders of a federal judge. We’re going to do it according to what we think we have to do to comply with the law, of course. But also to actually make the government work for people in the midst of the Democrat government shutdown.”

Vance’s framework: comply with law, but executive branch judgment determines prioritization. Judicial orders on specific spending are both legally questionable and operationally disruptive.

“If they would like to end this, we would be welcome, we would welcome working with them to end this government shutdown. And then we wouldn’t have to triage what we’re going to fund and what we’re not going to fund.”

The invitation remains open: Democrats can end this anytime.

”Real Consequences”

“And the last thing that I’ll say is the American people are unfortunately about to start suffering some very real consequences because of the shutdown.”

Vance’s warning of accelerating consequences.

“In the past, when you had a government shutdown, you would have, you know, under the Obama administration, they would lean into all of the problems it was going to cause for the American people at the beginning of the shutdown.”

Obama’s strategy during shutdown: maximize visible impact to force resolution. Close national parks, shut down veterans’ services — make the pain obvious quickly.

“The President has told us to keep as much going as humanly possible.”

Trump’s opposite strategy: minimize visible impact, keep as much operating as possible via contingency funds and creative accounting. Delay the pain while pushing for resolution.

“But after 30 days of this thing, 40 days of this thing, you’re going to start seeing very real travel delays. That’s because the Democrat government shutdown.”

Contingency funds have limits. Creative accounting reaches boundaries. After 30-40 days, things start breaking down visibly regardless of executive effort.

SNAP Exhaustion

“You’re going to start seeing SNAP benefits run out. That’s because the Democrat government shutdown. They should stop the charade and open up the government. That’s what we want them to do. We’ve been asking them to do it for 40 days. It’s time.”

SNAP benefits running out is the nightmare scenario. 40 million Americans dependent on SNAP face food insecurity if the program fully stops.

Vance’s framing: Democrats own this. Every day of continued shutdown guarantees worse consequences.

Significance

Day 37 marked the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Multiple dynamics at play:

Political: Democrats losing the blame war (polling increasingly favors Republicans)
Financial: $365M in federal worker borrowed rent just to date
Operational: 10% flight cuts, SNAP partial, air traffic controllers missing 2nd paychecks
Legal: federal court orders competing with executive triage decisions
Strategic: Democratic leadership refusing deal (dozen Democrats willing)

The pressure was building on multiple fronts. Something had to give.

Key Takeaways

Kennedy on 125M pounds: “Everybody will be able to get this drug and we will lose the American public because of this agreement. We’ll lose 125 million pounds by this time next year. It is going to have dramatic effects on human health in this country.”
Trump on drug cuts: “Some of this cuts 200%, 300%, 500%, 700%, a little bit more than that.”
Casten comparing Trump to Stalin: “Joseph Stalin who said one death is a tragedy and a million is a statistic. And I would never have thought I would be at a point where to understand how the President of the United States thinks, to understand how the Speaker of the House thinks, you have to read Joseph Stalin.”
Bonta refusing cooperation: “California has decided that we will not be participating [in federal immigration enforcement]. That’s what it means to be a pro-safety, pro-trust state. And our sovereign rights allow us to not be using our resources for immigration enforcement.”
Vance on SNAP ruling and consequences: “It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democrat government shutdown … after 30 days of this thing, 40 days of this thing, you’re going to start seeing very real travel delays. That’s because the Democrat government shutdown. You’re going to start seeing SNAP benefits run out.”