Recent Executive Orders Related to HPNA Policy Priorities

Updated: 03/19/2025

Recent executive orders are likely to impact federal health care agencies and the services and resources they provide, as well as clinicians across the health care sector and the patients they serve. HPNA’s advocacy team continues to monitor the status of these executive orders and has created this page to help members understand the potential impacts of these policy actions specifically on hospice and palliative nursing and our federal priorities.

HPNA will continue to provide updates and resources as developments occur.

If you would like to receive regular updates on these policy issues, please sign up for HPNA’s Advocacy Network.

Overview of Executive Orders

As defined in the Congressional Research Service Report: Executive Orders: An Introduction, “executive orders are written instruments through which a President can issue directives to shape policy. Although the U.S. Constitution does not address executive orders and no statute grants the President the general power to issue them, authority to issue such orders is accepted as an inherent aspect of presidential power, though their legal effect depends on various considerations.”

All executive orders are published in the Federal Register, typically several days after introduction. Recently signed presidential actions are available on the White House website.

Which current executive orders could impact hospice and palliative nurses and HPNA priorities?

The current administration has issued an unprecedented number of executive orders, many of which are facing court challenges. Executive orders that could impact HPNA’s policy priorities and their current status are outlined below.

Improving patient access to comprehensive, high-quality, and cost-effective hospice and palliative care

Executive Action	Date	Summary/Resources	Status
EO 14155: “Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization“	01/20/2025	The WHO coordinates responses to health emergencies, promotes well-being, prevents disease, and expands health care access. Their goal is to connect nations, people and partners to scientific evidence. In 2020, the WHO published a fact sheet outlining palliative care as ‘explicitly recognized under the human right to health’. The withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO could stall coordinated efforts to ensure communities across the globe receive early and timely interdisciplinary palliative care services. For regular updates on the status of EOs on global health, see the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Fact Sheet.	Withdrawal occurs immediately, but financial obligation will continue for one year.
EO 14148: “Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions”	01/20/2025	Among the recissions of EOs from the previous administration is recission of EO 14009: “Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. EO 14009 was issued during the Biden Administration with the intent of protecting and strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by reducing barriers to accessing care. The recission of this EO signals that there may be forthcoming agency actions to undermine Medicaid and the ACA, which could adversely impact patient access to care.	In effect.
EO 14159: “Protecting The American People Against Invasion – The White House”	01/22/2025	This EO rescinds a previous policy that protected healthcare facilities, schools, and places of worship against immigration enforcement. Deportation and mass detention have the potential to impact the health and wellbeing of immigrant families and access to healthcare services.	In effect.
Executive Memorandum to Agency Administrators: “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review”	01/20/2025	This memo places a 60-day freeze on any rulemaking process within the executive departments and agencies, such as Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This freeze impacts HHS’s ability to issue essential health regulations. During the freeze, these organizations will review regulations and determine next steps. Examples of regulations under consideration that impact hospice and palliative care services include prescribing controlled substances via telehealth, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug programs.	In effect.
EO: “Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission”	02/13/2025	This EO establishes a commission tasked with prioritizing research that focuses on eliminating chronic disease, particularly in children, and expanding treatment options for chronic disease.	In effect.
EO 14210: “Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative”	02/11/2025	Cutting contract spending and eliminating positions within the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Veterans Affairs could significantly impact patient care in the VA, as well as programmatic implementation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and research at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).	In effect.

Supporting research on palliative care, advanced nursing education, and workforce development

Executive Action	Date	Summary/Resources	Status
NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates	02/07/2025	The NIH announced major cuts to funding for “indirect costs” related to research. These cuts could dramatically impact the ability of researchers to conduct their work and the federal support of these costs has been crucial as private funding for indirect costs has been limited.	Temporarily blocked. Current appropriations language blocks NIH from altering this formula.
Removal of data sets from health agency websites to comply with EOs pertaining to gender, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and foreign aid	01/31/2025	The Office of Personnel Management issued memos on 1/29/25 ordering agencies to remove from their websites content about “gender ideology,” foreign aid, and DEI. The memos do not reference data sets. The data sets, which include federal surveys, removed from the websites are crucial to healthcare research, policy, and public understanding of health conditions, trends, and funding.	A federal judge ordered federal health agencies to restore the data on their websites, in response to a lawsuit filed by the advocacy organizations Doctors for America and Public Citizen.
EO 14173: “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”   EO 14151: “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”	01/21/2025	Under these EOs, all federal agencies and departments must cease promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. The executive orders also encourage non-federal entities to discontinue diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. This could have an impact on academic medical centers, medical associations, and nonprofit organizations that receive federal funds.	Temporarily blocked.

Supporting research on palliative care, advanced nursing education, and workforce development

Executive Action	Date	Summary/Resources	Status
EO: “Hiring Freeze”	01/20/2025	This EO had the potential to impact nurses employed by the Veterans Administration (VA); however, exceptions to the hiring freeze were made at the VA for public safety-related occupations, including nurses.	In effect for 90 days.