RFK Jr. Faces First Two Deaths From Explosive Diarrhea Parasite

The cyclosporiasis outbreak just turned deadly.Two people died in Michigan after contracting cyclosporiasis, the state’s health department announced Monday. They’re the first confirmed deaths in the country that have been tied to the public health crisis spurred by a single-celled parasite found on iceberg lettuce.Both people had “significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement, noting that no additional information about the specific cases will be shared.“Cyclosporiasis is generally not a life-threatening illness,” the statement continued. “Death resulting from cyclosporiasis is uncommon in the United States.”So far, the state health agency has tallied 11,234 cases and 193 confirmed hospitalizations associated with the illness.Those numbers would indicate that federal health agencies are far behind in their own analysis of the parasite’s spread—or, at the very least, are failing to inform the American people as to the true nature of the nationwide threat. As of Monday, the CDC’s “fast facts” page on cyclosporiasis recorded “at least 1,947” cases and 98 hospitalizations across nine states.In a July 28 memo, the CDC said that it had received reports of at least 6,707 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, though an additional 11,500 cases had not yet been confirmed.An analysis by The New Republic of state health agency data found at least 18,517 cases across the nine states listed by the CDC. The survey compiled reported figures from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. However, several of those states had not updated their own public-facing data within days or even weeks, suggesting that the current case tally could be much higher.Health officials said that anyone experiencing symptoms should reach out to a health care provider right away. Symptoms of cyclosporiasis can include sudden, prolonged diarrhea; bloating, severe stomach cramps, loss of appetite, extreme lethargy, and even a low-grade fever, though many people infected by the parasite show no symptoms at all, according to the Cleveland Clinic.Those most at risk of serious illness from the parasite are the elderly, infants, and people with compromised immune systems.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that public health investigators were having a difficult time tracking the disease as it can take one to two weeks to exhibit symptoms after the consumption of infected food.The current outbreak has been linked to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants, supplied by one of the largest fresh-produce suppliers in the country, Taylor Farms. The pro-Trump produce supplier sells products to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, SYSCO, Aldi, Target, and Dollar General. It also sells food for private label brands such as Whole Foods’ “365” line, and offers assembly-line products for a slew of fast food chains including McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, and more.Investigators are also examining other possible causes for the uptick, which has seen cases of cyclosporiasis increase across 45 states in 2026 thus far, though it is not clear if the cases are all tied to the contaminated lettuce, according to the CDC.Read more about the outbreak:The House Ethics Committee recommended a censure of Republican Representative Chuck Edwards of North Carolina Monday following reports of sexual harassment. The Committee released a 25-page report on its investigation, and concluded that Edwards had violated House rules related to “sexual harassment and hostile workplaces.”“Edwards engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers,” the report states.This result follows reporting from Axios in May, which alleged that Edwards had singled out two young female staffers for special attention.This is a developing story.More on Republicans in Congress:The Department of Homeland Security has drastically ramped up efforts to add DNA from nearly one million immigrants to a massive criminal database. Most of them have no criminal history; some of them are kids. In 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement added up to roughly 920,000 DNA profiles into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, a database used for conducting criminal investigations, WIRED reported Monday. That’s equivalent to more than 2,700 new profiles every day for an entire year. We know that most of the people added to the database have no criminal record because most of the people who have been detained by ICE as part of President Donald Trump’s massive deportation crusade have no criminal record. New research from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology, published in a report titled “Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing” uncovered a huge increase in the rate of DNA collection from undocumented immigrants. Customs and Border Protection has historically been responsible for collecting DNA from immigrants entering through the U.S.-Mexico border. Between October 2020 and December 2024, CBP collected the DNA of at least 1.36 million people, more than one dozen times the rate of ICE’s DNA collection during the same period. Even so, CBP’s prior collection rate has been dwarfed by the new data provided by ICE. Among the scores of immigrants whose genomes are now being tracked by the government are the children held at the family detention center in Dilley, Texas, the source of multiple reports documenting unsafe living conditions. “None of the families at Dilley have been convicted of a crime,” Representatives Joaquin Castro, Greg Stanton, and Nanette Barragán said in a joint statement to WIRED. “They do not belong in a database meant for violent criminals, especially children.”The ICE facility in Dilley has been the source of horrific reports about living conditions. Records released to Georgetown by CBP identified 492 children under age 14 whose DNA was sent to the FBI in 2025—including 33 seven-year-olds, 32 six-year-olds, and 21 five-year-olds, WIRED reported. And breaking with past precedent, ICE has also begun charging immigrants who refuse to submit a DNA sample when they are taken into custody. WIRED identified two prosecutions filed in 2025 against people in immigration custody who’d refused DNA collection. In response to questions from WIRED, a DHS spokesperson defended DNA collection and claimed the agency had collected DNA from children in order to verify family relationships. That program is distinct, however, from the DNA collection program centered in WIRED’s reporting. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s supposed deal to end President Trump’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” in his settlement with the IRS has a lot of loopholes.As Blanche seems to have stifled a Republican revolt and secured his Senate confirmation, Democrats on Capitol Hill sounded off against the settlement revision, which was announced late Sunday night.As Democrats pointed out, there are some major problems with the rewritten IRS settlement. First, there is no guarantee that Trump won’t later create a separate fund to reward his allies. Second, the IRS agreement granting Trump, his family, and Trump Organization immunity from IRS audits is still in place. Blanche’s only revision is that the immunity deal can’t apply to the future. And third, Blanche’s deal wasn’t signed by all parties, namely Trump, as the original IRS settlement was.“Nothing here stops DOJ from using taxpayer money to pay off January 6th insurrectionists. And it leaves the IRS shield protecting Trump and his family from past audits fully intact,” Democratic Senator Alex Padilla posted on X Monday. “Todd Blanche has always been Trump’s personal lawyer—and this ‘deal’ proves he’s unfit to serve as Attorney General. Congress must pass my legislation to permanently ban any payouts to J6ers.”California’s other Democratic senator, Adam Schiff, also criticized the deal, pointing out that it “doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future.”“It doesn’t prevent the admin from bringing the slush fund back from the dead next week or using DOJ’s Judgment Fund for the same illicit purpose,” Schiff posted on X. “It leaves in place a tax-immunity deal that could help Trump skip taxes on the $2.3 billion he made last year, and still leaves it vague who and what is covered.”Representative Daniel Goldman echoed concerns about the IRS audit immunity provision, pointing out that “the ridiculous tax immunity deal still applies to all tax years up to and including this year.“Remember, the lawsuit was a total sham that was withdrawn and this was an addendum that had no relevance or connection to the lawsuit ‘settlement,’” Goldman posted.Trump does not want the weaponization fund to die, complaining that people who were “horribly treated” deserve compensation. Sunday’s deal seems aimed at placating superficial opposition from Republicans who are on their way out of the Senate at the end of this year, without actually addressing the many corrupt issues with Trump’s IRS settlement. President Trump’s giant “triumphal arch” project is not only going to be big and ugly, it’ll also be in your way.According to a recent assessment by the National Park Service, the proposed arch design will irrevocably detract from Washington, D.C.’s carefully planned views and historic properties. The assessment lists, in detail, 37 significant historic sites in the capital city at risk for adverse effects.“Adverse effects” means “you’re building something that will irreversibly harm the experience in these other locations,” National Parks Conservation Association vice president for government affairs Ed Stierli told The New York Times.“These adverse effects are intentional and inherent in the design of the arch; it is intended to dominate the surrounding landscape,” Virginia State Historic Preservation Officer Roger W. Kitchen wrote in a letter to the Park Service in June.The Memorial Avenue Corridor—the stretch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, which includes Robert E. Lee’s historic Arlington House and the Kennedy Gravesite—is most at risk, as the 250-foot triumphal arch will alter and obstruct views from each site, the assessment explains.“The entirety of the corridor forms a major component of the monumental core of Washington, D.C. and was conceived as both a ceremonial gateway to the nation’s Capital and a symbolic landscape commemorating national unity and reconciliation following the Civil War,” the document reads. “The bridge alignment and associated ceremonial landscape were intended to physically and symbolically unite North and South through a coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River.”And now there will be a big Trump shrine smack in the middle of it.This latest Park Service assessment on the proposed project’s impact on the surrounding landscape is an essential step in the administration’s mission to receive final approval for construction from the National Capital Planning Commission.As a federal undertaking, the arch project is subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which mandates an adverse effects assessment, but does not require any particular outcome or changes to the project. Instead, the assessment is “meant to get agencies to pause, consult experts and the public, and consider alternatives or design changes,” The New York Times’ Emily Badger explains.There have been alternative designs proposed—smaller arches, which were not considered sufficiently “representative” of the 250-year American independence milestone, and alternative locations beyond the historic heart of the city—but the project is expected to move forward as originally planned.Incidentally, the Park Service assessment comes as the Trump administration pushes to dramatically overhaul the process under which construction projects in historical areas are reviewed—a thinly veiled attempt to make it easier for Trump to redesign the nation’s capital in his own image. Under the proposed rules, “visual, atmospheric, or audible” adverse effects of building projects would be of no consequence, and federal agencies would be empowered to approve projects without the input of historical experts or the public.