An MSNBC reporter’s attempt to blame Republicans for hindering pediatric cancer research funding quickly fell apart after key details were revealed. Sam Stein of MSNBC claimed on social media that GOP leadership had cut critical funding for pediatric cancer research in the recent government spending negotiations.
“But some of the toughest cuts to accept involved medical research,” Stein wrote in The Bulwark on Thursday. “In particular, advocates say, the revised funding bill delivered a severe setback to the fight against pediatric cancer. The reduced version was stripped of provisions that would have allowed children with relapsed cancer to receive treatments involving a combination of cancer drugs and therapies. (Currently, the Food and Drug Administration is only authorized to direct pediatric cancer trials of single drugs.)”
He went on, “The bill also omitted an extension of a program that provided financial support, in the form of vouchers, to small pharmaceutical companies working on rare pediatric diseases. It also lacked earlier provisions that would have allowed children on Medicaid or CHIP—that is, low-income children—to access medically complex care across state lines.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Sam, why are leaving out that the Republican house already passed a standalone bill for pediatric cancer research that Dems in the Senate have refused to pass all year? Why are Dems using kids with cancer in an attempt to force through a bill filled with pork? Evil stuff. <a href=”https://t.co/0twIEjyOzF”>https://t.co/0twIEjyOzF</a></p>— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) <a href=”https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1870154669496119652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
However, the story quickly unraveled when critics pointed out a key fact: House Republicans had already passed a separate bill for pediatric cancer funding months earlier—a bill that Senate Democrats have refused to bring up for a vote. Commentator Robby Starbuck called Stein out on X for what he deemed a misleading portrayal of the situation.
“Why are you ignoring that the Republican House already passed a standalone bill for pediatric cancer research that Dems in the Senate have blocked all year?” Starbuck wrote in a viral post. He went on to accuse Democrats of “using kids with cancer as a tool to push through a bill filled with pork.”
The bill Starbuck referred to is the “Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act,” or a similar standalone pediatric cancer funding bill passed earlier by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. GOP leaders passed a clean, focused bill earlier in the year that was solely dedicated to pediatric cancer funding.
The Senate, controlled by Democrats, did not advance or bring the standalone bill to a vote; instead, they tied the funding to a larger omnibus or broader spending package. Starbuck and others argue that Democrats are using pediatric cancer funding as leverage to push through a spending bill laden with unrelated priorities.
This controversy stems from the collapse of a larger spending package that included unrelated priorities, criticized as excessive “pork-barrel” spending. GOP leaders contended that such vital funding for pediatric cancer research should not be bundled into a bloated omnibus bill but instead addressed through clean, focused legislation.
As Congress races against the clock to finalize a temporary funding plan by Friday, the federal government teeters on the edge of a shutdown.
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