WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order alongside first lady Melania Trump on Monday creating a task force and a National Institutes of Health division focused on women’s health, a White House official said.
The task force will be led by Trump’s White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently announced that she is cancer-free, and US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, the official said.
The new Women’s Health Division at NIH will not replace the agency’s Office of Research on Women’s Health but will have a broader mandate beyond research.
Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order at 11 a.m. at the White House, according to his official schedule.
Representatives for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, could not be immediately reached for comment on the order, which was first reported by USA Today.
In planned remarks at the event, Melania Trump is expected to address the need for using artificial intelligence to speed up women’s health discoveries as well as access and affordability of care, among other topics, the official said.
The move comes after Trump and his administration have urged health care cuts, including at NIH, and moved last year to downsize the federal healthcare workforce
Since Trump’s second term began in January 2025, his administration has sought to cut NIH grants for research on diversity-related topics and reportedly moving to allow political appointees to control health-research funding.
It also launched a controversial safety review of the abortion pill, also called mifepristone, that could pave the way for restrictions. Some health groups have criticized the move as politically motivated while some anti-abortion groups argue the review is moving too slowly. Earlier this month, US officials told a court the review would be completed by March, months after the November 3 midterm congressional election.
US health officials have also removed a longstanding safety warning from many hormone replacement therapy (HTR) products, tightening supplies and leading to shortages, and have urged more manufacturers to study testosterone therapies for women that could support future approvals of female-specific products.
HHS has also targeted family planning funds, announcing earlier this year that for the first time it would require applicants for Title X funding to align their programs with Trump’s political priorities, prompting legal action.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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