17 views

Nov. 12, 2025, 11:16 PM EST / Updated Nov. 13, 2025, 12:17 PM ESTBy Monica Alba, Frank Thorp V, Michael Kosnar and Zoë RichardsMultiple federal agencies have told their employees to report to work Thursday, according to three administration officials. The directive came before President Donald Trump signed a short-term funding bill Wednesday night. Government workers at the Health and Human Services, Justice, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development departments were all advised to come in Thursday, regardless of when the measure was signed.One of the emails referred to the funding lapse as the “Democratic shutdown,” continuing a trend of partisan language on display from various agencies leading up to and during the government’s closure.Trump blames Democrats after end of government shutdown04:40State Department employees also were told to return to work Thursday in an email Wednesday night that referred to passage of the short-term government funding bill, known on Capitol Hill as a continuing resolution, or CR, earlier in the evening. “Now that a CR has been enacted, we can all continue the critical work of advancing our national interests on behalf of the American people,” an undersecretary for management at the department, Jason S. Evans, wrote in email obtained by NBC News. “We look forward to all our people returning to work expeditiously on your next scheduled workday.”The Republican-controlled House on Wednesday night approved legislation in a 222 to 209 vote to reopen the government after 43 days, the longest shutdown in American history. Six Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in favor of the measure, while two Republicans joined a vast majority of Democrats in opposing it.The bill reinstates thousands of government employees who were laid off during the shutdown which began Oct. 1, secures back pay, and protects against additional reductions-in-force through the end of January.It’s unclear when exactly furloughed workers will get their back pay or how fast paychecks might resume, but the White House has urged federal agencies to send paychecks out “expeditiously and accurately,” a senior administration official said.NBC News has reached out to the Office of Management and Budget for details.Health and Human Services employees were told the agency would try to get furloughed employees paychecks with back pay on or before Nov. 21, according to an email obtained by NBC News. The email to State Department employees included a link to frequently asked questions on returning to work and an update on issues related to backpay and bidding for their next positions and overseas posts.The senior administration official said the White House was projecting that employees at some agencies, including the General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management and the departments of Energy, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs, would get their checks as soon as this weekend. Other departments, including Education, State, Interior, Transportation and some agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the Social Security Administration, could get their backpay by Monday, the official said. Still others, including Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Treasury and DOJ, could receive their checks by the middle of next week, the official said.The shutdown’s effect on air travel, meanwhile, is expected to ease, although the timeline for that is unclear; the Federal Aviation Administration announced flight cancellations will be capped at 6% rather than 10% as the agency assesses a return to full operations. The Smithsonian, too, has announced it will reopen several museums tomorrow, including the Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum, and its annex in Virginia, which houses planes and space artifacts.Other museums and the National Zoo are set to reopen on a “rolling basis by Monday,” the Smithsonian’s website said.Monica AlbaMonica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.Frank Thorp VFrank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.Michael KosnarMichael Kosnar is the Justice Department Producer for NBC News. Zoë RichardsZoë Richards is a politics reporter for NBC News.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Multiple federal agencies have told their employees to report to work Thursday, according to three administration officials.

Source link

TAGS:
14 views

Nov. 13, 2025, 11:57 AM ESTBy Melanie Zanona, Julie Tsirkin and Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson says he still has “PTSD” from the GOP’s failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act during President Donald Trump’s first term.Now, the party is about to plunge back into the tricky policy debate that once cost them seats in the House.This time around, though, Republicans are mostly stopping short of calling for a full-scale repeal of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, even as they slam the policy as a failure. Instead, the mantra among Republicans is “fix Obamacare.”But the clock is ticking. Open enrollment for health insurance has already begun and enhanced Obamacare subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, more than doubling insurance premiums for millions of Americans in red and blue states alike, with some seeing increases of thousands of dollars per month.Republicans, under pressure from Democrats after the government shutdown revived the health care clash, have not coalesced around legislation or even an abstract idea, and are only now starting serious discussions about putting proposals together.Trump calls for end of filibuster, takes aim at Affordable Care Act03:16As the party scrambles to craft an alternative, multiple Republicans are vying for Trump’s endorsement of ideas that could alleviate skyrocketing costs that are just around the corner. Two Republican senators have competing plans to create federally funded spending accounts that would help Obamacare enrollees directly, rather than subsidize insurers to keep costs down.Johnson, R-La., said House Republicans have also been brainstorming proposals behind the scenes and will “be rolling out some of those ideas,” but he declined to put a timeline on it.“I haven’t prejudged that or put any dates on it, but I mean, we worked on it today. We’ve been working on it every day. We got more members joining the discussion,” Johnson told NBC News on Wednesday evening. “This is how it works. It’s a deliberative process, where you build out the consensus, and we’ll be working on that in earnest in the days ahead.”Johnson also said he recently traded texts with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., about the possibility of working on a bipartisan solution. But Jeffries is pushing for a three-year extension of the expiring ACA tax credits, which Johnson has said is a nonstarter.If Republicans aren’t able to agree on an alternative solution before the end of this year, they’ll have to decide whether to join with Democrats in extending the ACA tax credits, which risks drawing Trump’s ire, or letting them expire, which risks infuriating voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who said he talked to Trump at length last week about the importance of health care, warned, “not only is it morally bankrupt, it’s political suicide” for Republicans to let the subsidies expire without an alternative in place.Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told NBC News he pitched Trump on his plan, which would put federal money in health savings account-style accounts for individuals to “increase competition and drive down costs.”Scott hopes to release the text of the bill as soon as possible, citing a mid-December deadline set by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to give Democrats a vote on the expiring ACA subsidies.Scott, who chairs the Senate Republicans’ policy committee, invited health care-focused guest speakers to weekly party lunches over the last six weeks to illustrate why members should oppose extending the ACA subsidies, as Democrats were demanding during the shutdown.“Obamacare has failed us. Cost has skyrocketed,” Scott told reporters in the Capitol on Monday. “The way to fix it is, any Obamacare subsidies go to the individual through an HSA and then allow people to buy whatever plan that fits their family.”It’s an idea that Trump — who stepped up his public attacks on Obamacare last week when Democrats were still digging in on their shutdown demands — seems open to.“We’re gonna pay a lot of money to the people. They’re gonna go out and buy their own health care, and we’re gonna forget this Obamacare madness,” Trump said during a bill signing to end the shutdown Wednesday evening.Earlier this week, Trump suggested naming the replacement plan “Trumpcare.”Despite the president repeatedly railing against Obamacare, a White House official told NBC News that Trump had not ruled out extending the ACA subsidies.“We need to do the right thing policy-wise but also the smart thing politically,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the president’s thinking.Another emerging idea is from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate’s health committee, who advocated for flexible spending accounts that, like Scott’s proposal, would help Obamacare enrollees directly.Cassidy has pitched his idea to Republicans and the Trump administration, but also across the aisle as the only tangible solution to address rising health care costs with a chance of passing the House and being signed into law by Trump.“I don’t know if we can get something bipartisan, but you never can unless you at least give it a shot,” Cassidy said. “We actually want to get something that lowers health care costs for the American citizens implemented as quickly as possible. There’s some things we’re going to disagree on that might be really good policy, but if we’re going to get it done quickly, it has to be things that we do agree on.”The viability of those ideas remains to be seen.“While Republicans have talked for years about replacing the ACA, none of these current ideas are fully fleshed out yet. A tweet is not a health care plan,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group. “So, it’s hard to tell exactly how these concepts of replacing ACA premium assistance with cash or health accounts would really work in practice.”“If people could use these Trump health care dollars to buy insurance not regulated by the ACA, it would likely cause the ACA to collapse and upend protections for pre-existing conditions,” Levitt continued.There is a third option. Republicans could try to overhaul Obamacare with only GOP votes by using the “budget reconciliation” process for a second time during Trump’s second term. The procedural tool allows Republicans to pass legislation with a simple majority, and Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has advocated doing so, pitching it as an alternative to Trump’s calls to get rid of the filibuster.Graham has even suggested crafting a Republican alternative to Obamacare and passing a package by Jan. 1 — no small feat — to avoid higher premiums from kicking in, according to two people familiar with his private comments. Graham’s suggestion is not being considered as a serious proposal because of the monumental lift required to put together such a plan, these people said. And, it’s an open question what would even be allowed under Senate rules, with multiple senators and aides telling NBC News they would need to run it by the Senate’s parliamentarian, who referees the reconciliation process, before hitting go.Republicans tried multiple times during Trump’s first term to repeal or undo Obamacare. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, and that applies here,” Van Drew said. “I don’t want us to flounder around, say we’re working on something, go back and forth. And then Jan. 1 comes, and some people are not able to pay their bills because their health insurance costs so much, or other folks just give up their health insurance.”Van Drew said if they can’t pass an alternative before the end of the year, then they need to extend the subsidies for another year in order to buy themselves more time.And if Republicans don’t act, then Van Drew said he’d be open to signing a discharge petition to prevent ACA subsidies from lapsing — a tricky and rarely used procedural tool to go around leadership’s head that requires 218 signatures to succeed. Jeffries started a discharge petition Wednesday for a three-year extension of the ACA tax credits; if every Democrat signs on, they’ll need four Republicans to join them to force a House vote. That is unlikely to happen.“If we don’t do anything, we just flounder around, it’s certainly something I would consider,” said Van Drew, who participated in a bipartisan and bicameral health care meeting last week.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans now “own” the health care crisis, previewing the Democratic line of attack ahead of the midterms.In exchange for opening the government, Democrats got a promise for a floor vote in mid-December on an ACA bill of their choosing. But there’s no guarantee about the outcome. Democrats are exploring ways to win over Republicans, such as changing the eligibility requirement or income caps. But another wrinkle has emerged: a battle over GOP demands for stricter abortion guardrails around the ACA money, which Democrats say is a nonstarter.Meanwhile, Johnson has refused to commit to putting any Senate-passed ACA bill on the House floor. The speaker has insisted he needs to build consensus among his members first and has deputized House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to work with the three chairmen of the committees with relevant jurisdiction over the issue, as well as the GOP doctors caucus, to put together some ideas. The working group will hold listening sessions with members next week.Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told NBC News the ACA money should “absolutely” expire, despite the wishes of some in the GOP to renew it.“There’s not gonna be any deal cut,” Norman said.Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., the chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, said the GOP solution should not require federal money.“We should look at how we’re going to lower costs without having to inject more federal dollars into it,” he said. “The Democrat solution is to throw more federal dollars at it. We don’t have the access to that.”Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has questioned how serious her colleagues are about a health care plan. Greene, the MAGA firebrand, who said her family’s health care costs have risen threefold since the ACA took effect, warned that her party will suffer politically in 2026 if they fail to improve the system.“Republicans must finally come up with a plan to address affordability,” she told NBC News. “Ignoring this crisis will not only leave the American people in a crisis but will likely lead to losses in the midterms. We have the majority; it’s time to solve this problem that the Democrats created.”Melanie ZanonaMelanie Zanona is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News.Julie TsirkinJulie Tsirkin is a correspondent covering Capitol Hill.Sahil KapurSahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.Lillie Boudreaux and Gabe Gutierrez contributed.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Republicans are mostly stopping short of calling for a full-scale repeal of the Affordable Care Act, even as they slam the policy as a failure. Instead, the mantra among Republicans.

TAGS:
10 views

Nov. 13, 2025, 2:48 PM ESTBy Matt Dixon and Allan SmithPresident Donald Trump’s once unquestioned grip on his MAGA political base is showing signs of strain as some of his supporters have started pushing back on White House policy proposals they see as contrary to his long-held promises on immigration and the economy.As Trump takes heat from even the most loyal segments of his political base, he has remained defiant.“MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired Monday. “I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”Trump remains popular with Republicans, and he’s still able to make or break candidates in Republican primaries — 88% of Republican registered voters approved of Trump in the latest NBC News poll, conducted in late October, before the latest elections. Among voters who consider themselves part of the MAGA movement, it’s even higher — 96% — highlighting the loyalty he commands from core supporters. But there’s a belief among some of Trump’s MAGA supporters that is spilling out online that the president is increasingly swayed by wealthy donors who have access to him at private White House events, his exclusive Mar-a-Lago club and the luxury boxes he sits in when he attends sporting events, including a Washington Commanders football game on Sunday. “President Trump is instinctually America First, but things are seriously askew,” said Paul Dans, the architect of Project 2025 who is running against Trump-endorsed Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina’s GOP primary. “America First is experiencing a hijacking right now. He’s [Trump’s] getting bad advice and is being kept in a bubble.”It’s a shift in focus that some on the right say can be traced back to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the influential conservative leader of Turning Point USA who was gunned down in September.“Charlie Kirk was the last person who could walk into the Oval Office and speak on behalf of the base,” Mike Cernovich, a prominent MAGA social media personality, posted on X. “Now it’s all donors.”The White House pushed back on the idea that Trump is distancing himself from the ethos of his MAGA agenda on key policy planks, such as on H-1B visas.“In record time, President Trump has done more than any president in modern history to tighten our immigration laws and put American workers first,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.On Wednesday, the Trump administration had to contend with another issue that has divided and frustrated his base: the case of Jeffrey Epstein. The House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 pages of Epstein emails — some of which discussed Trump. A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers also secured enough signatures — including from some Trump allies — to force a vote in the coming days compelling the Justice Department to release all of its documents in the Epstein case against Trump’s wishes. Democrats release Epstein emails mentioning Trump02:28A Trump ally said that if the issues prompting loud online pushback continue, there could be broader political problems electorally for Trump and Republicans. But, they said, they are not convinced that point has been reached yet, because past base concern has often been overblown.“Sure, could this all end up adding up and become a real problem? Yes, it could,” said the person, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “But that, I do not think, is the point we are at yet. Worth watching, sure, but I think much of this will pass.”’What an atrocious thing to say’The right-wing backlash intensified this week following Trump’s interview with Ingraham, which aired Monday and Tuesday. Trump batted away concerns about affordability as a Democratic “con job,” and he said a controversial new proposal for 50-year mortgages was “not even a big deal.” He also talked up having 600,000 Chinese students study at U.S. universities and said the U.S. needed to bring in more workers from overseas through the H-1B visa program because native-born Americans lack “certain talents.” “What an atrocious thing to say,” actor and Trump supporter Kevin Sorbo posted on X of Trump’s comments on American workers. “This will cost republicans the midterms.” The H-1B visa issue has split two segments of the new GOP base. The right-wing MAGA supporters who have long backed Trump oppose the program because they believe it hands over jobs to foreigners that could be filled by Americans, while the tech industry, a newly powerful political force on the right, has long supported the program as a way to recruit high-skill labor. On his “Human Events” program Wednesday, right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec scrutinized Trump’s visa policy following his interview with Ingraham and asked Tom Sauer, another influencer on the right, “what message” the administration’s posture sends to MAGA supporters. “I think it really says we don’t value you as much,” Sauer said. “We worship GDP, and we worship profits more than we do the health of the American worker and the health of the American nation.”The White House pushed back on the idea that Trump’s recent comments were not aligned with the MAGA political base, noting an executive order he signed increasing the cost it takes to obtain an H-1B visa.“The $100,000 payment required to supplement new H1-B visa applications is a significant first step to stop abuses of the system and ensure American workers are no longer replaced by lower-paid foreign labor,” Rogers, the White House spokesperson, said. Trump administration raises fee for H-1B visas to $100,00000:49The idea for a 50-year mortgage — which was not something Trump previously touted — also faced withering criticisms. Commentators said the proposal would lead to homeowners paying significantly more in interest over the life of their mortgage, something that would benefit banks that hold those mortgages. “The idea behind the 15- and 30-year mortgage is that you eventually own the home you live in, whereas the 50-year mortgage abandons this pretense altogether and fully embraces the idea of housing as a speculative asset,” right-wing activist Christopher Rufo posted on X. “Not good, unless you’re a bank.”Others defended the president, saying critics had their facts wrong while acknowledging that the White House may need to work on its messaging. Trump said during his interview with Ingraham that he is comfortable with 600,000 Chinese students studying in American universities on visas — which is roughly current levels — but angered many in his MAGA base who believe Trump promised to decrease those numbers.“This is about one interview, not any policy changes,” a former Trump campaign official said of the Ingraham interview. “On the Chinese visas, he’s not pushing for more; it’s just the status quo. On H-1Bs, he signed an executive order making them more expensive, and the Labor Department has announced probes into H-1B abuse.”“So, it’s not like he did a 180 on anything,” the former official added. “It’s just bad clips from an interview.” ‘Get out and meet with the people’Trump has run all three of his presidential campaigns as a populist, but throughout this term, he has been surrounded by billionaires. At his inauguration, some of the richest men in the world — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and tech titan Elon Musk — had VIP seats. Musk then became one of Trump’s top advisers, wreaking havoc on the federal government by trying to get rid of large numbers of civil servants. Trump frequently spends his weekends at Mar-a-Lago. He received criticism for hosting a lavish “Great Gatsby”-inspired Halloween party — with the theme “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” — as federal workers went without pay and low-income food benefits were set to expire for millions of people during the government shutdown. Trump has also traveled across the country less in his second administration. At this point in his first term, he had gone to 27 states; this year, he’s done just 15. He hasn’t held a rally-style event since July 3. Trump has, however, done a significant amount of international travel, going to 14 countries.Dans said that as Americans are struggling with rising electric and utility bills, property taxes and health care premiums, the president needed to go around the country and hear from more than just the “Mar-a-Lago dining set.” “I would encourage the president to get out and meet with the people and actually hear from voices who are being shut out by the inner circle,” he said. Seeming to respond to right-wing criticism that the president’s attention has drifted from key domestic issues, Vice President JD Vance posted on X after last week’s Democratic electoral romps: “We need to focus on the home front.” “The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he added.This is not the first time this year Trump has faced pointed criticism from supporters. A number of prominent voices on the right raised objections to his decision to strike Iran over the summer amid its conflict with Israel. Many too blasted the administration for pledging to release a trove of information on Epstein before suddenly pulling back. That blowback subsided. But last week’s elections reignited some concerns, after Democrats performed better than expected in key races. NBC News polling released earlier this month showed that just 34% of registered voters believe Trump has “lived up” to expectations on the economy.The president “needs to recalibrate and address the big stuff,” one Trump ally said, pointing to inflation, jobs and the overall economy. This person also said the president needs to talk up policies from his so-called big, beautiful bill, which polling has found to be unpopular as a whole.“I’ve watched the right wing implode over the last two weeks and the reason we are is because many are afraid to legitimately criticize the admin,” Savanah Hernandez, a conservative political commentator, posted on X on Tuesday. “It’s our job to openly put the pressure on when we don’t feel the country is headed in the right direction.”But the former campaign official said on one of Trump’s core promises, immigration, he has been consistent. They noted that those who have been let into the country of late have mostly been white South Africans, a move largely backed by Trump supporters.“Obviously, refugee admissions are hilariously low and mostly white South Africans,” the person said, adding that “a lot of the loudest voices on the right online” tend to “spiral over everything.” “That is one thing hard to deal with,” they said.The most recent NBC News poll found Trump’s overall approval rating was at 43%, a 4-point dip from March, while 51% said he had lived up to their expectations on the issue of immigration and border security. Some allies pointed the finger less at Trump losing his way than how the White House has handled messaging.“The MAGA pushback on affordability wasn’t big until the H-1B visas [comment],” a Republican close to the White House said. “Now it’s a firestorm.”This person, who said the current White House messaging on the economy “appears pretty chaotic,” added that the way for the administration to turn the tide is to do a better job of informing the public how Trump’s policies are making life more affordable. “Don’t send him around the country cutting ribbons at factories,” this person said. “Come with facts.”Matt DixonMatt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.Allan SmithAllan Smith is a political reporter for NBC News.Henry J. Gomez, Jonathan Allen, Megan Shannon, Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner and Tara Prindiville contributed.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Trump’s once grip on his MAGA political base is showing signs of strain as some of his supporters have started pushing back on White House policy proposals.

Source link

TAGS:
14 views

Nov. 13, 2025, 11:00 AM ESTBy Kaitlin SullivanEating more ultra-processed foods is tied to an increased risk of precancerous colorectal growths in women under 50, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology.These growths, called adenomas or polyps, can later turn into cancer and are a good indicator of a person’s cancer risk, experts say.Rates of colorectal cancer in people under 50 have risen sharply in recent decades. The findings could offer new insights into what’s driving this increase.“One approach we’ve been taking is trying to understand what has changed in our environment that could be driving this. What are some trends that mirror this acceleration in cancer rates?” said study leader Dr. Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist and the chief of the clinical and translational epidemiology unit at Massachusetts General Brigham in Boston.Ultra-processed foods now make up the bulk of the average American’s diet, especially among kids. The foods, which tend to be high in calories, have been linked to depression, Type 2 diabetes and early death. Some experts have also suspected eating these foods could be driving the increase in colorectal cancer rates among young people.To test this hypothesis, Chan and his team used data from more than 29,000 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II, an ongoing study of female registered nurses established in 1989. The women, who were between 24 and 42 when they enrolled in the study, were followed for 24 years, from 1991 through 2015. Every four years, everyone filled out a questionnaire about their diets, and everyone had at least one colonoscopy before 50.The researchers looked at whether the women were diagnosed with precancerous polyps: either adenomas, which are more likely to turn into cancer, or serrated lesions. While only about 5% of adenomas are cancerous, about 75% of colorectal cancers start as adenomas, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Serrated lesions are still considered precancerous but are linked to fewer cases of colorectal cancer, Chan said.The study found a connection between eating more ultra-processed foods and developing an adenoma before 50. It didn’t see any links between the foods and serrated lesions.Because the majority of colon cancers arise from adenomas, the study showing a link between eating more ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of developing adenomas specifically gave Chan and his team more confidence that these foods could increase colorectal cancer risk, he said.“The strength was that we looked at two major types of polyps — it’s the adenoma type that seems to underlie cancer, and we saw the link between that,” he said. “About 1,200 women in the study developed adenomas. Compared to those who ate the fewest ultra-processed foods, those who ate the most — accounting for one-third of their daily calories — were about 1.5 times more likely to develop adenomas. Specific foods also appeared to increase risk. Diets higher in sugar and artificial sweeteners were most linked to higher rates of adenomas, followed by diets high in sauces, spreads and condiments.Although the study included only women, the majority of whom were white, other studies have also found a link between men eating more ultra-processed foods and developing cancer.“We don’t have any reason to believe there would be a difference in men compared to women,” Chan said, adding that additional research should include men to be sure.Most colorectal polyps do not turn into cancer, but nearly all colorectal cancer does start as a polyp, said Dr. Folasade May, a gastroenterologist and an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who wasn’t involved with the research.This is why doctors remove any polyps they find during a colonoscopy, and why people who have polyps are considered to be at higher risk for developing colorectal cancer. “They are looking at the first step, who is more likely to get these polyps that can turn into cancer,” May said of the study.The problem is that routine screening for colorectal cancer does not happen until age 45, said Dr. Christopher Lieu, the co-director of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine in Aurora.“The concern is that whenever you have a polyp in a young person, that polyp is allowed to grow unnoticed, and because you are not screening those young patients,” Lieu said. This makes it even more important to identify the modifiable lifestyle factors that are driving increased rates of colorectal cancer in young people, added Lieu, who wasn’t involved with the new research.Although scientists have yet to determine a clear cause, the rise in rates is unlikely to be driven by genetics, May said.“This has happened very fast, so it is likely unfortunately something we have done to ourselves as humans, in the way we live our lives,” she said. “It’s jarring, hearing stories every week about people in their 20s, 30s, 40s getting cancers that, when I was in medical school, we were taught happen in people in their 80s.”Ultra-processed foods cause inflammation in the gut — which includes the colon — that impairs the gut’s ability to repair itself when damaged and keep tumors at bay. High levels of inflammation are also linked to cancer in general, May said. Another hypothesis is that people who eat more ultra-processed foods are more likely to have obesity and Type 2 diabetes, both which are linked to a higher risk for colorectal cancer.“More likely, it’s the direct toxic effects of these ultra-processed foods,” May said.Chan, the study author, said ultra-processed foods are known to alter the gut microbiome, which, in theory, could make cells in the gut more likely to turn cancerous.The next step in the research is determining whether any of these hypotheses appear to have a causal effect on who develops colorectal cancer at a young age. It’s likely part of the puzzle, Chan said.“One thing that has been clear is that the U.S. intake of ultra-processed food has really risen in the past few decades in a way that mirrors the staggering increase in colorectal cancer cases,” he said.Kaitlin SullivanKaitlin Sullivan is a contributor for NBCNews.com who has worked with NBC News Investigations. She reports on health, science and the environment and is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at City University of New York.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Eating more ultra-processed foods is tied to an increased risk of precancerous colorectal growths in women under 50, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology

Source link

TAGS:
13 views

Nov. 13, 2025, 12:00 PM ESTBy Doha MadaniAriana Grande was rushed by a man ahead of the premiere of “Wicked: For Good” in Singapore on Thursday, appearing frightened as co-star Cynthia Erivo and security rushed to intervene. The man who rushed Grande, Johnson Wen, posted the video to his own Instagram account where he thanked Grande for “letting” him jump on to the carpet. Wen has an Instagram account under the name Pyjama Man man where he posts about rushing concert stages and sporting events. But it did not appear that Grande was aware of the situation in the video, looking scared as the man ran towards her and put his arm around her while she stood beside her “Wicked” co-star Michelle Yeoh. Cynthia Erivo, the film’s co-headliner, immediately jumped into action across the two women and tried to pry Wen off of Grande as security moved toward them. Yeoh also appeared to put her arms around Grande to pull her away from the man. Videos posted by others online showed that Erivo seemed to move positions on the carpet to ensure Grande walked in between her and Yeoh.Representatives for the “Wicked” film franchise did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Wicked” For Good” is being released by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande discuss upcoming ‘Wicked: For Good’01:44Fans of Grande offered a fierce defense of the singer in the comments of Wen’s Instagram video, with some describing it as an assault on Grande. Commenters also called on others to report the man’s account.Some of Grande’s fans pointed out that the singer has experienced prior trauma at events, referencing the 2017 bombing of her concert in Manchester where 22 people were killed. Grande, who says she’s always dealt with anxiety, told British Vogue in 2018 that she dealt with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack. “After all the trauma Ari has been through, this is beyond disrespectful,” one commenter wrote. “Not just to her, but to the cast and to all the fans. It’s literally infuriating. You should be ashamed.”Wen has posted videos of himself crashing concert stages, including at Katy Perry and The Weeknd shows, as well as rushing the fields at sporting events. In a message to NBC News, Wen described himself as a “mega fan” of Grande and that he was “happy” to meet her.”I dreamed about meeting her and now my dreams became true,” he wrote. He did not respond to a request for comment on the backlash he’s facing online or that he might have scared Grande through his actions. Doha MadaniDoha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Ariana Grande was rushed by a man ahead of the premiere of “Wicked: For Good” in Singapore on Thursday, appearing frightened as co-star Cynthia Erivo and security rushed to intervene.

TAGS: