DETROIT — The Red Wings have won in different ways during this, what is now, a seven-game winning streak.

On Sunday, they did it relatively quick and easy fashion.

The Wings breezed to a 6-2 victory over Seattle at Little Caesars Arena, exploding for four first-period goals and coasting the final 40 minutes.

The last time the Wings won seven consecutive games was Jan. 12-23, 2012. The Wings (20-18-4) conclude a four-game homestand Tuesday against San Jose, and then head out for a rugged four-game road trip.

“You don’t want to take your foot off the gas and we’ve struggled with leads,” said captain Dylan Larkin of the explosive start. “Today was a great challenge. That first period, we score four early and we have to play, there’s a lot of hockey left and we answered it. Our details were good.

“That’s how you play with the lead and we stuck together when we needed to and it’s good to close that one out.”

The Wings are 7-1-0 under coach Todd McLellan, who took over Dec. 26, including the seven straight wins. It has been a different-looking Wings team, one playing with confidence and many players who weren’t succeeding with the previous staff now playing better.

“You’re either, in my opinion, moving forward or repairing and right now we’ve been able to have some success,” McLellan said. “The nuggets we’ve tried to give the players, because they’ve had success, they’re waiting for more and what else do you have for us? What more can we add to it? Because it’s been working for us, but also players buying in and applying it.”

Six different Wings scored goals against Seattle. Marco Kasper, J.T. Compher, Alex DeBrincat (power play), Patrick Kane, Erik Gustafsson (power play) and Dylan Larkin (power play) had goals, while Lucas Raymond, Mortiz Seider, and Vladimir Tarasenko each had two assists.

“(It builds) individual confidence but (also) team confidence,” McLellan said of the balanced scoring. “The offensive players are excited for those guys to score. The bench is excited, and that’s a real positive for us. You can’t have just Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin and Razor (Raymond) doing all the scoring. It has to be balanced.”

While going 3-for-4 on the power play, the Wings extended their streak of scoring a power-play goal to eight consecutive games, matching an eight-game streak from March 19-April 2, 2016.

Goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 31 shots, earning the victory.

Oliver Bjorkstrand (power play) and Matty Beniers (Michigan) had goals for Seattle (18-23-3).

The Wings jumped Seattle early. Kasper (his fourth goal), deflected Raymond’s shot at 3:22 and 11 seconds later, Compher won a face-off and redirected Tarasenko’s shot for Compher’s sixth goal.

The Wings added two more goals 1:37 apart a short time later. DeBrincat made it 3-0 with his 19th goal, on the power play at 6:16, and Kane made it 4-0 with his 10th goal, on an easy tap-in of Gustafsson’s pass at 7:53.

Gustafsson reached the goal-scoring column at 4:17, his second goal, with a drive from the high slot, making the score 5-0. Larkin scored his 18th, and the Wings’ third power-play tally, converting a nice feed from Kane at 15:21.

“We knew they played (Saturday afternoon), but it’s a lot about us,” Kasper said. “How we prepare for a game, and we had a good practice (Saturday) and coming in with a six-game win streak, just our confidence is high. We skated our first two minutes and that set us up for good second and third periods.”

The good, fast starts were also something that were inconsistent earlier in the season for the Wings. But they’ve become gradually more of a staple of the Wings’ lately, and they checked off pretty much everything they wanted to do against the Kraken.

“We got on the forecheck, and we had a good shot mentality,” Larkin said. “We knew they would be hard to play against and they battle in the defensive zone. We got pucks to the net and they went in early, and after we got to one and two (goals) we kept the foot on the gas.

“It was a great start for us.”

ANN ARBOR — Michigan coach Dusty May and the Wolverines have made it a goal to fill up Crisler Center.

That mission, it’s safe to say, is being accomplished.

Off to its best start in Big Ten play in four seasons, No. 24 Michigan gave fans more reason to keep packing the stands by extending its win streak and taking down Washington, 91-75, on Sunday.

Vlad Goldin had 19 points to lead another balanced scoring attack. Nimari Burnett scored 16 on 6-for-6 shooting and made four of Michigan’s 11 3-pointers to highlight another offensive performance where the Wolverines shot better than 50% from the field.

It all resulted in a fifth straight victory by a double-digit margin for Michigan (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten).

“Everybody contributed in this game. It wasn’t a single effort,” said Goldin, who finished 6-for-7 from the field and added seven rebounds. “So many people stepped up when we needed it the most, when the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.

“It’s helpful when everybody plays the right way. It makes it feel amazing.”

Even though the Wolverines had to deal with foul trouble with the frontcourt trio of Danny Wolf, Will Tschetter and Goldin much of the game, it didn’t prove detrimental. Instead, they built on a 10-point halftime lead and widened the margin to 55-42 early in the second half on a three-point play from Roddy Gayle Jr.

And even when Michigan waded through a stagnant stretch where it had a four-minute scoring drought and Wolf headed to the bench with his third foul, Washington couldn’t put a serious dent in the deficit. Instead, the Huskies (10-7, 1-5) could only muster two free throws in a span of six minutes.

Once Wolf checked back in, the Wolverines blew the game open. He whipped a pass to Sam Walters for a corner 3-pointer. Two possessions later, Wolf knocked down a deep ball during a 7-0 burst. Michigan pulled ahead 79-60 with 7:45 to go.

The Wolverines led by at least 13 points the rest of the way as they continued their best start to conference play since the 2020-21 campaign, when Michigan began 6-0 in league and won the Big Ten regular-season title.

Great Osobor had 23 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late for Washington. The Huskies shot 41.3% from the field (26-for-63) against Michigan, which mixed in zone and man-to-man defenses, lost the turnover battle (12-11) and led for a meager 18 seconds during the first two minutes of the game.

Gayle finished with 15 points in his return to the lineup after missing last game with knee soreness. Walters chipped in 12 points off the bench. Wolf added 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Wolverines missed 10 free throws but shot 52.7% from the field (29-for-55), marking the 10th time this season they’ve made at least half of their shots in a game.

“I think the style of play that we play, the pace that we play, the ball movement, finding open cutters and open shooters attributes to that,” Burnett said. “I think the everyday process — the shots that we get off and on the court, the film we watch every single day — helps with the style of play we play.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers have said they play an ethical style of basketball, and I feel like we have a lot of those traits.”

Michigan, once again, showed that from the jump. And just like they did during their West Coast sweep of USC and UCLA, the Wolverines got off to a strong offensive start against a new Big Ten member.

Goldin capped a string of seven unanswered points by draining a 3-pointer on an out-of-bounds play. Wolf scored on a driving layup and backed down a defender for a finish at the rim. The Wolverines set the tone by making six of their first nine shots and grabbing a 15-7 lead with 15:01 left in the first half.

Osobor kept Washington close and gave Michigan fits after Goldin picked up his second foul at the 13:44 mark. With Goldin on the bench, Osobor took advantage of mismatches, made four consecutive shots and scored 10 straight points for the Huskies.

The Wolverines shrugged off Osobor’s hot stretch and created separation, even after Wolf joined Goldin with two fouls at the 8:23 mark. Gayle pulled down a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup to cap a string of six unanswered points. Burnett canned three 3-pointers over the final six minutes of the half.

Michigan navigated the foul trouble with its big men down the stretch — and produced a highlight along the way, with an alley-oop slam by Goldin off a half-court pass from Tre Donaldson — en route to a 48-38 lead at the break.

“I thought we did some nice things overall for a choppy Sunday afternoon game,” May said. “I don’t think either team would have been pleased with the flow of the game, but we both contributed to it. We were changing defenses. We were both in foul trouble.

“Just an odd game. But over the course of a 20-game Big Ten season, you have to be able to play a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways, and we definitely got something done today. … We need to continue to stay strong, healthy, and figure out different ways to win.”

One of the top offensive linemen in the transfer portal committed to the Michigan State football team Saturday. All it took was a little visit to Breslin Center.

Just two days after visiting East Lansing, former Montana State offensive tackle Conner Moore committed to Michigan State. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound rising redshirt junior announced his decision via social media.

Moore just finished a run to the Football Championship Subdivision national championship game, where he and Montana State fell to powerhouse North Dakota State. Moore earned FCS second team All-American honors last season.

Michigan State has extensively targeted both sides of the line in the transfer portal, having already picked up commitments from center Luka Vincic (Oregon State), guard Matt Gulbin (Wake Forest) and tackle Caleb Carter (Western Carolina). But Moore might be the most important pickup yet. Across 904 offensive snaps with Montana State, he stood out as a threat in the run game while also making a difference in pass protection.

Pro Football Focus, a football analytics company that grades players on a scale of 0 to 100, gave Moore an overall grade of 76.7, which ranked 59th among all offensive tackles in both subdivisions of Division I football. Moore stood out with a 77.1 grade in run blocking, which ranked 39th in the country. While those ratings come from film against lower level competition than what he will face in the Big Ten, he was one of the top offensive linemen left in the transfer portal.

To put these figures into context, Michigan State left tackle Ramil Stanton ranked 482nd with an overall grade of 55.4. Run blocking, he rated 57.9. Right tackle Ashton Lepo checked in at 45.3 and 51.4, respectively.

The help is much needed for the Spartans, whose line struggled to make a difference in both the running and passing game. Michigan State picked up an average of 115.3 yards rushing, which ranked in the bottom 25 of the Football Bowl Subdivision. Thirty times last season, quarterback Aidan Chiles found himself sacked, and that number should’ve been higher had the sophomore not frequently escaped the pocket to avoid danger. Moore should be an upgrade to improve those figures, as are the three other linemen Michigan State already picked up.

It’s clear that Michigan State knew how much Moore could bring to the team next season, as shown by Moore’s recruiting visit. As the Michigan State men’s basketball team ran Washington off the court in an 88-54 blowout, Moore took in the game with head coach Jonathan Smith and offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. And whatever pitch the two coaches laid out was clearly convincing enough to earn Moore’s pledge.

Moore is the 15th transfer to join the Spartans since the portal opened on Dec. 9.

Michigan State’s transfer additions include: offensive linemen Luka Vincic (Oregon State), Caleb Carter (Western Carolina), Matt Gulbin (Wake Forest) and Conner Moore (Montana State); wide receivers Evan Boyd (Central Michigan), Chrishon McCray (Kent State), Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee) and Rodney Bullard (Valdosta State); running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver (Sacramento State); defensive tackle Grady Kelly (Florida State); defensive backs NiJhay Burt (Eastern Illinois), Joshua Eaton (Texas State) and Malcolm Bell (Connecticut); and edge rushers/outside linebackers David Santiago (Air Force), Anelu Lafaele (Wisconsin) and Aisea Moa (Brigham Young).

Jahmyr Gibbs ended his second NFL season with a bang.

The Detroit Lions running back was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring four touchdowns in the team’s 31-9 division-clinching win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.

Gibbs had 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries and caught five passes for 31 yards and a touchdown, setting the single-season franchise record for touchdowns (20) in the process. The Lions earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed with the victory.

Gibbs, the No. 12 pick in the 2023 draft, broke the record of 17 total touchdowns shared by running backs Jamaal Williams and Barry Sanders. Gibbs had 16 rushing touchdowns and four receiving and finished the season with 1,929 yards from scrimmage with 1,412 rushing yards.

Gibbs is the sixth Lions player this season to win an NFC Player of the Week award. Punter Jack Fox (Week 3), quarterback Jared Goff (Week 4), defensive back Brian Branch (Week 6), kicker Jake Bates (Weeks 7 and 10) and wide receiver Kalif Raymond (Week 8) all earned the honor this season.

Gibbs was named to the Pro Bowl last week for a second straight season. He earned Pro Bowl honors in his rookie season after putting up 1,261 yards from scrimmage and finished fourth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.

On Wednesday’s episode of his podcast, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown announced he would be reciprocating the love shown to him by a Rochester bakery over the weekend.

Heather Tocco and her team at Rochester’s Home Bakery crafted a life-size edible replica of St. Brown doing a headstand in the end zone after scoring a touchdown against the Packers earlier this season. It has drawn crowds and national media attention to the Main street business. Now, the athlete is encouraging fans to make a purchase there for a chance to win a special prize.

St. Brown said he will make an appearance at the bakery next week, and hopes to taste the jaw-dropping confection.

“I need a slice or something,” he said, adding that in honor of Home Bakery, he will be giving away two home playoff tickets to the divisional round game next week. “All you will need to do is purchase any item at Home Bakery, a cake shop in Rochester, Michigan, between Jan. 13 and Jan. 16 to enter the contest. The winner will be announced Jan. 17.”

He said the winner will be selected at random for the a pair of tickets.

“Everything you see is edible,” Tocco told The Detroit News about the cake, which St. Brown described as “lit” and “nuts.”

“The amount of people who were stopping as we were setting the window …. was pretty cool to see,” she said. “It’ll definitely be up after we win the Super Bowl.”

“When I first saw it I was like, ‘no way,’” St. Brown said on his show. “The attention to detail is ridiculous. People were sending me on Instagram, DMing me, my friends were texting me … I’m like this is crazy.”

Home Bakery — which sells cookies, cakes, cannoli, muffins, dog treats, cronuts and more, including Detroit Lions-themed confections — is at 300 S. Main in Rochester. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri. and 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Sat., closed Sundays.

Michigan tight end/fullback Max Bredeson, voted a captain for the 2024 season, is returning to the Wolverines.

Bredeson announced his decision on Instagram with video clips of his highlights and this caption: “Team 146 let’s do it,” referring to the 2025 Wolverines. He is an important piece for the culture of the team and was credited by head coach Sherrone Moore for helping the Wolverines refocus after a loss to Indiana and rebound with a win against Northwestern to earn bowl eligibility.

The Wolverines finished with a three-game winning streak, including a 13-10 upset at Ohio State and a 19-13 upset of Alabama in the bowl game, to end the season 8-5.

“He’s the ultimate competitor, the ultimate leader, everything you want in a captain, and a guy you want on your team,” Moore said of Bredeson on the eve of the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve. “As physical as any player in college football, I would say. He’s everything you want from a leader on your team. He impacts our team not just on the field, but off the field in huge ways, making sure the locker room is aligned in every single way. I just can’t speak highly enough about that young man.”

Bredeson has played in 40 games and made seven starts. He was a Burlsworth Trophy nominee, awarded to an FBS player who began his career as a walk-on, in 2024.

The Detroit Lions are going back to black in their primetime matchup against the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC’s top seed on Sunday night.

After teasing it all week, the Lions announced on social media Saturday that they’ll be wearing their black alternate uniform for the contest. They had been teasing the black uniform all week but made it official on Saturday. They’ll remain with their monochromatic superstition, though, pairing black jerseys and black pants with their blue helmet. They’ve yet to wear blue pants with the alternate look.

The Vikings, meanwhile, will wear white jerseys and white pants with their classic purple helmet.

The Lions have worn monochromatic uniforms in every game but one this season, a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Detroit is 1-1 in the black uniforms, which debuted this season. The Lions beat the Seattle Seahawks at home, 42-29, on Monday Night Football in Week 4 but lost to the Buffalo Bills, 48-42, at Ford Field in Week 15.

Evan Boyd is coming home. After spending the past two years with Central Michigan, the former East Lansing High School standout Boyd has transferred to Michigan State.

Boyd, a wide receiver, announced the decision via social media Saturday night.

In his first season of regular action following an initial redshirt year, Boyd caught 21 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns in 2024. He also caught a two-point conversion. His highest volume production came with six catches for 51 yards in a September win over San Diego State. He put up a career-high 78 yards twice, in a Week 1 win over FCS school Central Connecticut and in a Week 4 win over MAC opponent Ball State.

Before playing college football, Boyd was a star two-way player for East Lansing, where he caught 61 passes for 994 yards his senior year in 2022 en route to All-State honors. He graded out as a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, the 36th best prospect in Michigan his senior year and the 309th overall wide receiver in the country.

Boyd is the third wide receiver in the Spartans’ transfer portal class, joining Kent State transfer Chrishon McCray and Middle Tennessee’s Omari Kelly.

Michigan State has added 13 commitments since the transfer portal officially opened Dec. 9. MSU’s portal additions include: offensive linemen Luka Vincic (Oregon State), Caleb Carter (Western Carolina) and Matt Gulbin (Wake Forest); wide receivers Evan Boyd (Central Michigan), Chrishon McCray (Kent State) and Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee); running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver (Sacramento State); defensive tackle Grady Kelly (Florida State); defensive backs NiJhay Burt (Eastern Illinois), Joshua Eaton (Texas State) and Malcolm Bell (Connecticut); and edge rushers David Santiago (Air Force) and Anelu Lafaele (Wisconsin).

MSU hires new QBs coach, taps Oregon State assistant

Michigan State has a new quarterbacks coach.

Michigan State has hired Jon Boyer to its staff to coach quarterbacks, a source familiar with the coaching staff confirmed to The Detroit News.

Boyer spent the previous six years with Oregon State, where he worked with current Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith. Last season, Boyer worked as tight ends coach under Smith’s successor, Trent Bray.

The move fills a coaching vacancy opened up by the departure of cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin for UCLA. Assistant coach Blue Adams remains the secondary coach, while Boyer fills quarterback duties that were previously handled by offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren.

The hiring was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Hiring a tight ends coach to prep the quarterbacks might seem like an oddity, but it’s reflective of the duration of Boyer’s career spent working with signal callers. In his time with Oregon State, Boyer served in a number of roles on Smith’s staff.

Primarily, he was a quality control coach and senior advisor on offense, duties that included working quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei in his breakout 2023 season, as well as Jake Luton in 2019.

Before coaching with Smith at Oregon State, Boyer coached at his alma mater, Northern Colorado. From 2002 to 2005, the final two years of which were spent as a quarterbacks coach. He left to be offensive coordinator at Colorado Mesa from 2007 to 2010 before returning to his previous role at Northern Colorado in 2011.

By 2012, the program promoted him to offensive coordinator where he stayed until leaving for Oregon State. All that experience gives Boyer a firm footing with coaching quarterbacks.

Boyer has experience not only coaching quarterbacks, but also an important one in Michigan State’s locker room — starter Aidan Chiles. After a middling season where 15 turnovers marred a productive 2,415 yards passing.

The hope is a reunion with Boyer can help Chiles tap further into his potential, with a designated quarterbacks coach helping him polish his game at one of the most important positions on the field.

By Anne Snabes The Detroit News

The Michigan Department of Transportation is hoping to open the new “flex lanes” on Interstate 96 between Kent Lake Road and Interstate 275 in Oakland County in late February or early March, according to an agency spokesperson.

The “flex lanes” are part of the $269 million I-96 Flex Route project. Once completed, it will allow motorists to drive on the inside shoulder of eastbound I-96 from 6-9 a.m. and the inside shoulder of westbound I-96 from 3-7 p.m., which are peak times, said Diane Cross, a spokesperson for MDOT.

The project also is adding traffic lights in entrance ramps that will tell motorists when to merge onto the freeway.

Cross said the average daily traffic through that stretch of I-96 is 160,000 cars, and she noted that more crashes occur during the morning and afternoon rush than other times.

“If we can control the traffic getting onto the freeway ― we can give you an extra lane to use during just the busiest times, we hope to really reduce those numbers,” she said.

More: Orange barrel season is here: 14 big road projects planned in Metro Detroit

MDOT had to widen some of the inside shoulders of I-96, and it rebuilt the roadway. Cross said the project’s construction was completed in early November, and motorists have been driving on the roadway. However, the shoulders that will serve as “flex lanes” and the traffic signals in entrance ramps aren’t operational yet.

Electronic signs on I-96 will show either a red X, which means you can’t use the left shoulder, or a green arrow, which means you can use it. She said professionals are currently testing the electronics.

Cross said that when a flex lane is open, someone needing to move to the side of the road should pull over to the right shoulder and not the left one.

Traffic lights were also installed in entrance ramps along this stretch of I-96. There will be two lanes in the entrance ramps, and each will have a traffic signal, which will tell motorists to start merging onto the freeway or to stop and wait.

The added lanes on I-96 in western Oakland County are similar to the existing flex lanes on U.S.-23 in Washtenaw County between M-36 in Whitmore Lake and M-14 on the north side of Ann Arbor. That flex lane route is currently being extended from Whitmore Lake to I-96 in Brighton in Livingston County to relieve rush hour congestion on U.S.-23.

When asked about the “flex lanes,” Novi Council Member David Staudt said anything that moves traffic better is “good to me.”

“You have to have faith in in their engineering people to hope that what they’re doing is worthwhile to spend the money on and that residents and the drivers will benefit from it,” he said.

He said that because of projects on I-96, I-696 and I-275, Novi has been “surrounded by construction.” Streets in the city have also been under construction.

“It has been a really tough time for Novi residents,” he said.

The MDOT spokeswoman said the two years of highway reconstruction will have a lasting impact on Oakland County.

“MDOT has made a great deal of investment in our MDOT roads in Oakland County which will last for decades,” Cross said.

asnabes@detroitnews.com

©2024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Detroit Lions are getting back two important players, potentially as soon as Sunday night.

Linebacker Alex Anzalone and receiver Kalif Raymond were activated from injured reserve Saturday afternoon, ahead of Detroit’s pivotal matchup with the Minnesota Vikings that is set to decide the NFC North champion and the conference’s No. 1 overall seed heading into the playoffs.

Just because Anzalone (forearm) and Raymond (foot) were activated doesn’t mean they’ll be available against Minnesota — the Lions are calling them both questionable — but it is an encouraging sign. Anzalone had been on injured reserve since Nov. 18, and Raymond had been there since Nov. 27.

Other moves made by the Lions included signing defensive back Morice Norris to the active roster from the practice squad, signing receiver Tom Kennedy to the practice squad and elevating defensive lineman Chris Smith and cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver from the practice squad for Sunday night’s game.

The Lions also placed cornerback Emmanuel Moseley on the reserve/non-football illness list. Moseley played 14 snaps on special teams against the San Francisco 49ers last Monday before popping up on the injury report Wednesday with an illness. He did not practice all week.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Moseley, who has suffered three major injuries in recent years. Moseley’s career with the San Francisco 49ers came to end when he tore his left ACL in October 2022, and his first season with the Lions was cut short when he tore his right ACL in October 2023. Moseley also tore his pectoral muscle in training camp, missing the first 10 games of 2024.

Also notable for the Lions was the lack of a move, as running back Jermar Jefferson was not elevated from the practice squad. The veteran had been added to the active roster for the last two games with David Montgomery (knee) injured, but Detroit has opted to keep him on the practice squad for Week 18.

Jefferson not being elevated is likely good news on the availability of Craig Reynolds (back), who is questionable to play against the Vikings.

Luke Ramseth
The Detroit News

Stellantis NV sold 15% fewer cars in 2024 than it did in 2023 in the United States, a stark departure with other major automakers, including Detroit rivals General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., that posted gains for the year.

The maker of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat and Alfa Romeo said Friday that it sold 1.3 million vehicles in 2024. In the fourth quarter, it sold 320,743 vehicles, down 7% compared to the prior year.

All the company’s major brands suffered sales declines in both the fourth quarter and for the full year except for Chrysler, which saw its Pacifica minivan sales surge in the final quarter.

Still, both the company and Stellantis dealers say they are feeling much better about their prospects in 2025 after selling down a glut of old inventory in recent months and as a few key new models are expected later this year.

Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. sales, noted that the automaker got some momentum in the second half of the year, selling 4% more vehicles than in the first half, while fourth-quarter sales were 5% above third-quarter sales.

“The pricing and incentive actions that we put in place across our brand portfolios in the second half of the year led our U.S. dealer inventory levels to be reduced ahead of schedule, allowing our dealers to prepare consumers for the introduction of all-new vehicles to the market, including from Jeep, Ram and Dodge,” Kommor said.

Those new vehicles include new electric offerings for Jeep as well as a replacement for the popular Jeep Cherokee SUV that was discontinued in 2023.

Several Stellantis vehicles that have long been top-sellers lost ground in 2024. That included Ram pickups, which combined were down 7% year-over-year; the Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, down 3% and 12% respectively; and the Dodge Durango, down 14%. Bright spots included the Jeep Compass, up 16%, and the Dodge Hornet, up 120%.

Stellantis noted it had the highest plug-in hybrid market share in the U.S. in 2024, at 41%, with offerings such as the Wrangler 4xe, Grand Cherokee 4xe and Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid.

The Stellantis results were an outlier for the industry and its U.S. rivals. Ford reported its sales grew 4.2% last year to more than 2 million, while GM said its sales climbed 4% to about 2.7 million.

lramseth@detroitnews.com

©2025 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Luke Ramseth
The Detroit News

Sales across General Motors Co.’s brands grew in 2024, with the automaker reporting Friday that it had the best overall U.S. sales total since prior to the pandemic in 2019.

GM’s 2.7 million vehicles sold for the year in the U.S. was a 4% uptick from 2023 — still under 2019’s nearly 2.9 million, but marking continued steady sales growth since a recent low point of about 2.2 million in 2021.

The automaker continued to post strong overall pickup sales, long a key profit-driver, but also notched a new record for electric vehicle sales. EV sales grew by half from 2023 and as GM’s battery-powered lineup has continued to expand.

GM’s fourth-quarter vehicle sales increased 21% year-over-year and included another record period for EV sales with 43,000 deliveries — up 125% compared to the same three months in 2023, and also an increase of more than 10,000 units over the prior 2024 quarter. GM has expanded its electrified lineup to now include seven models that include full-size pickups and different variations of SUVs.

In terms of GM’s brands in 2024, Buick sales grew by 10%, Cadillac was up almost 9%, Chevrolet increased less than 2% and GMC sold about 9% more vehicles.

“The driving force for our business is new vehicles with great design and performance across our portfolio, helping our dealers satisfy more customers,” Rory Harvey, GM executive vice president and president of global markets, said in a statement. “We’re carrying significant momentum into 2025.”

The top-selling Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup notched 555,609 sales in 2024, up just slightly from 2023, while its cousin GMC Sierra was up almost 10% year-over-year. The mid-sized Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups each saw a healthy sales surge in 2024.

Meanwhile, sales of several popular Chevy SUVs fell last year, but the budget-minded Trax continued its surge in popularity, with more than 200,000 of the compact SUVs sold in 2024, up from 109,000 the year before.

GM’s average transaction prices inched up in recent months, ending the year at nearly $53,000, while its incentive spending on vehicles dropped in the same time period.

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Breana Noble
The Detroit News

Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales grew 4.2% year-over-year in 2024 to their highest level since pre-pandemic 2019, and it recorded a record year of electric vehicle deliveries, but fell behind crosstown rival General Motors Co. in sales of battery-powered models.

Even as affordability became an increasingly prominent issue for buyers in 2024 from high interest rates and transaction prices and as inventories built up, Ford sold 2.079 million vehicles last year compared to 2023’s 1.996 million. The results surpassed automotive digital services provider Cox Automotive Inc.’s forecast that the Dearborn automaker would post a 3.8% increase in sales for the year.

The results were boosted by the fourth quarter, during which the Dearborn automaker sold 8.8% more vehicles than the same period a year prior, totaling 530,660 vehicles. It sold 191,531‬ vehicles in December, down less than 1% year-over-year.

Even as EV leader Tesla Inc. reported its first annual decrease of 1.1% in global deliveries in more than a decade, Ford recorded record EV sales in 2024 in the United States. Sales of its three all-electric products increased almost 35% year-over-year to 97,865 vehicles, but new offerings from GM boosted the Detroit automaker’s annual EV sales 50% to 114,432.

Ford on Friday announced it was extending its fourth-quarter “Power Promise” campaign through March, committing to cover the cost of a Level 2 home charger and its standard installation for the purchase or lease of a new EV. The company attributed support for the record EV sales in the fourth quarter, which increased 16%, to the program.

Ford’s hybrid vehicles also grew by 40%. But gas- and diesel-powered vehicles still represented 86% of all U.S. sales, increasing 0.2%. Luxury brand Lincoln’s sales rose 28% compared to 2023.

Truck sales increased 7.1% in 2024. F-Series pickups were up 2%, making it the country’s best-selling truck for a 48th straight year. The results included a 39% increase in all-electric Lightning sales, a 47% increase in the hybrid model and a 14% increase in Super Duties. Ranger was up 43% and Maverick rose 39%, including a 31% increase for the hybrid model. Transit commercial van sales increased 18%, including a 64% increase in all-electric E-Transit deliveries.

Ford SUV sales were down 1.6% because of Edge production ending and sales of that midsize model falling 37%. Explorer was up 3.9%, Bronco rose 3.3%, Escape increased by 4.2% and Expedition grew by 6.3%. Bronco Sport sales fell 2.2%. The all-electric Mustang Mach-E increased by 27% and had its best-ever quarter in the last three months of the year.

Meanwhile, sales of the Mustang coupe, Ford’s only car segmented vehicle, decreased by 9.5%.

Lincoln had its best retail sales in 17 years. Aviator sales rose 62%, and Nautilus sales increased by 50%. Corsair’s grew by 13% and Navigator’s were up 28%.

Altogether, the Blue Oval’s SUV sales were down 1.2%.

GM’s total sales increased 4.3% year-over-year in 2024. Stellantis NV also was expected to post full-year and fourth-quarter results on Friday. Toyota Motor Corp.’s U.S. sales increased 3.7%, and Kia Corp.’s rose 1.8%. California-based EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc. on Friday said it met its annual production target after lowering it in October.

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Kara Berg The Detroit News

A 57-year-old Fenton woman died and five others were seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash that occurred on Interstate 96 in Lyon Township early on New Year’s Day.

The Fenton woman was a backseat passenger in a Ford Explorer that rear ended a Chevrolet Trax driven by a 30-year-old Ypsilanti man that was stopped in the second lane of westbound I-96, east of the South Hill Road overpass, with only its hazard lights on at 3:09 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

The Explorer ended up facing east in the westbound lanes and was struck head-on by a 75-year-old Leslie woman driving a Jeep Compass. The Explorer caught fire after the second crash, but all occupants got out before flames broke out.

The living occupants of the Explorer are in serious or critical conditions, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver and his wife, who was in the front passenger seat, are in serious condition and the second rear passenger, the husband of the Fenton woman who died at the scene, is in critical condition.

The 30-year-old Trax driver is in stable condition and the 75-year-old Compass driver is in critical condition, according to the sheriff’s office.

kberg@detroitnews.com

©2025 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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ANN ARBOR — The first game after Christmas break has been a pitfall for the Wolverines in recent seasons.

Not this year. Not this time.

Michigan broke that trend and nearly broke a single-game program record for made 3-pointers in a 112-64 blowout win over Western Kentucky in Sunday’s nonconference finale at Crisler Center.

Nimari Burnett had 17 points and led the 3-point barrage with a career-high five made 3s for Michigan (10-3), which tied the single-game record with 19 made 3-pointers.

Vlad Goldin (17 points), Sam Walters (13 points), Tre Donaldson (12 points), Danny Wolf (12 points), Roddy Gayle Jr. (11 points) and Justin Pippen all made two deep balls, as Michigan finished 19-for-40 from beyond the arc.

The Wolverines were without guard Rubin Jones, who exited last weekend’s win over Purdue Fort Wayne with a left knee injury, but plenty of others picked up the slack. Nine Michigan players scored at least seven points and made at least one 3-pointer.

In fact, all Michigan did was score its most points (59) and make its most 3-pointers (11) in a half this season to bury Western Kentucky in a 28-point hole by halftime. And the Wolverines didn’t let up.

Burnett kicked off the second half with his third 3-pointer. Goldin connected on his second deep ball, marking the first time in his career he’s made multiple 3s in a game and pushed his career total to three.

Wolf tied Michigan’s season high for made 3-pointers with 14 — matching its output in the Nov. 18 win over Miami (Ohio) — at the 16:11 mark. Walters set a new season high a minute later, as Michigan’s lead swelled to 75-39.

The Wolverines continued to close in on the single-game record of 19 that was set on Dec. 13, 2016, in a win over Central Arkansas. Burnett splashed two more 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it 17, tying the program’s second-highest total and marking the third time it’s happened.

Walters broke that tie midway through the second half. Wolf delivered Michigan’s 19th 3-pointer and tied the program record with 6:05 to go, capping a 9-0 burst that gave the Wolverines a 50-point lead.

Michigan, though, couldn’t break the record as it emptied its bench in the final minutes and the Wolverines missed its final three 3-point attempts.

Don McHenry scored 18 for Western Kentucky (9-4), which shot. 36.4% from the field and trailed by double digits over the final 32 minutes.

After embarrassing losses to McNeese State, Central Michigan and UCF in the nonconference finale the past three seasons, the Wolverines never came close to letting that happen again.

Michigan got off to a hot start and dialed it in from deep, with four starters hitting a 3-pointer in the opening minutes. That proved to be a sign of things to come.

Gayle made a defender fall and swished a 3-pointer. Goldin pinned a layup attempt on one end and drained his second career 3-pointer on the other end. Michigan raced out to a double-digit lead less than three minutes into the game and extended it to 16-4 at the 16:17 mark when Donaldson drained a 3-pointer.

The Hilltoppers cut the deficit to four before Wolf found Burnett open in the corner for his second deep ball. That sparked a 10-2 spurt where Will Tschetter canned a long-range shot, as the Wolverines regained a double-digit advantage for good at 28-16.

As more and more Wolverines joined the 3-point party, the lead continued to grow. Freshman L.J. Cason drained a step-back 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 burst. Pippen followed with two deep balls in a 31-second span. Gayle connected on another deep ball during a string of 10 unanswered points.

By the time halftime arrived, seven Wolverines combined to make 11 3-pointers — tied for the team’s second-most in a game all season — as Michigan took a commanding 59-31 lead into the break.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Michigan State hockey team will be playing for a championship Monday night.

Inside a sold-out Van Andel Arena in the semifinal of the Great Lakes Invitational, the top-ranked Spartans overwhelmed Northern Michigan in a 2-0 win. Michigan State (14-2-1, 6-1-1 Big Ten) will play No. 6 Western Michigan in the GLI championship game, beginning at 7 p.m.

Michigan State led all the way, but it survived a brief scare early in the first period when Northern Michigan (1-17-1, 0-11-1 CCHA) forward Aidyn Hutchinson appeared to score on a scramble in the crease. A coach’s challenge showed that he kicked the puck in, wiping it off the board and giving the Spartans a fresh start. It wouldn’t be the last time a goal came off the board. Forward Griffin Jurecki scored for Michigan State, only for his goal to be wiped away by a coach’s challenge, too.

Midway through the first period forward Karsen Dorwart scored — for real, this time — to make it 1-0 Michigan State. Two minutes later, forward Isaac Howard scored his 10th goal of the season after stickhandling through the defense, giving his Spartans a 2-0 lead.

Michigan State put together a strong opening frame, stringing together long possessions and turning this into quality scoring chances. A 14-3 edge in shots reflected its control.

In the second period, the Spartans kept up the pressure with a high volume of shots. Though no goals came, this riled up the Michigan State contingent of a sellout crowd. The Spartans’ abundance of pressure reflected the difference in talent, as it controlled.

This constant attack also came with its thorns. Michigan State conceded a pair of breakaways to Northern Michigan forwards Grayden Daul and Hutchinson, but goaltender Luca Di Pasquo stopped both as part of a 15-save shutout. He hasn’t allowed a goal in two straight games, following his last shutout appearance Dec. 1 against Lindenwood.

Michigan State continued the onslaught in the third period, breaking the 40-shot threshold with seven minutes left to play. Its best chance of the period came on its 41st shot, a Dorwart shot that skittered up and over Northern Michigan goaltender Ryan Ouellette but fell on top of the net. Ouellette left the game with around five minutes left, with backup Ethan Barwick taking the reins the rest of the way.

Through the game’s entirety, the Spartans particularly shined through the neutral zone, leaning on quick skating to overwhelm its opponent. Always ahead — both on the scoreboard and in these races — Michigan State cruised to a 2-0 win. The Spartans ended with a 48-15 advantage in shots.

Michigan State will play in its 28th GLI championship game, having won 12 of these appearances. A win in Monday’s title game would give the Spartans sole possession of the second-most GLI championships in tournament history.

Western Michigan outlasts late Michigan Tech push

A raucous crowd erupted when Western Michigan captain Tim Washe scored the overtime winner in his team’s 4-3 defeat of Michigan Tech. After a strong comeback from the Huskies, Washe’s heroics punched the Broncos’ ticket to their sixth GLI championship game in program history.

Early on, No. 6 Western Michigan (11-3-1) appeared ready to run away with the game. A first-period goal from defenseman Robby Drazner and a second-period power-play tally from forward Liam Valente put Western Michigan up 2-0. And even if Michigan Tech’s Ryder Matter scored his first career goal to cut the deficit in half in heading to the second intermission, Owen Michaels put his Broncos up 3-1 7:18 into the third.

Cue the comeback. A goal from forward Trevor Kukkonen brought life into Michigan Tech (9-6-2), and another from defenseman Matthew Campbell brought it even. In the end, that comeback fell short with Washe’s overtime winner.

By Myesha Johnson

The Detroit News

The Madison Heights Police Department is investigating the death of a 60-year-old man found unresponsive on Christmas Eve.

Officers found Robert Cavanaugh on the ground near the 26000 block of Dequindre Road around 7:39 pm Tuesday, the department said in a release.

Police said the city resident appeared to have suffered from blunt force trauma and was transported to Henry Ford Hospital in Madison Heights, where he was pronounced dead.

“Because of the suspicious circumstances, responding officers began an on-scene investigation,” officials wrote.

Officers located and arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for Cavanaugh’s death, according to the release.

The investigation is pending the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office determining the cause and manner of death. The case will be presented to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and his family during this tragic time,” police said.

Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News

Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact.

But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request.

The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation.

Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9.

To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison.

Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds.

But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational.

Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered.

Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.”

Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12.

Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility.

Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon.

Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years.

“Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.”

The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool.

It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten.

“Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.”

Political Moves

Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded.

While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show.

The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights.

“Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform.

Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000.

Tuition Costs

Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.”

“I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.”

Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.”

“I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.”

With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson.

©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Stephanie Armour, Julie Rovner | (TNS) KFF Health News

Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s candidates for federal health agencies have promoted policies and goals that put them at odds with one another or with Trump’s choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., setting the stage for internal friction over public health initiatives.

The picks hold different views on matters such as limits on abortion, the safety of childhood vaccines, the COVID-19 response, and the use of weight-loss medications. The divide pits Trump picks who adhere to more traditional and orthodox science, such as the long-held, scientifically supported findings that vaccines are safe, against often unsubstantiated views advanced by Kennedy and other selections who have claimed vaccines are linked with autism.

The Trump transition team and the designated nominees mentioned in this article did not respond to requests for comment.

It’s a potential “team of opponents” at the government’s health agencies, said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian policy organization.

Kennedy, he said, is known for rejecting opposing views when confronted with science.

“The heads of the FDA and NIH will be spending all their time explaining to their boss what a confidence interval is,” Cannon said, referring to a statistical term used in medical studies.

Those whose views prevail will have significant power in shaping policy, from who is appointed to sit on federal vaccine advisory committees to federal authorization for COVID vaccines to restrictions on abortion medications. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy is expected to set much of the agenda.

“If President Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. to be secretary is confirmed, if you don’t subscribe to his views, it will be very hard to rise in that department,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “They will need to suppress their views to fit with RFK Jr’s. In this administration, and any administration, independent public disagreement isn’t welcome.”

Kennedy is chair of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit. He has vowed to curb the country’s appetite for ultra-processed food and its incidence of chronic disease. He helped select Trump’s choices to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. If confirmed, he would lead them from the helm of HHS, with its more than $1.7 trillion budget.

Clashes are likely. Kennedy has supported access to abortion until a fetus is viable. That puts him at odds with Dave Weldon, the former Florida congressman whom Trump has chosen to run the CDC. Weldon, a physician, is an abortion opponent who wrote one of the major laws allowing health professionals to opt out of participating in the procedure.

Weldon would head an agency that’s been in the crosshairs of conservatives since the COVID pandemic began. He has touted his “100% pro-life voting record” on his campaign website. (He unsuccessfully ran earlier this year for a seat in Florida’s House of Representatives.)

Trump has said he would leave decisions about abortion to the states, but the CDC under Weldon could, for example, fund studies on abortion risks. The agency could require states to provide information about abortions performed within their borders to the federal government or risk the loss of federal funds.

Weldon, like Kennedy, has questioned the safety of vaccines and has said he believes they can cause autism. That’s at odds with the views of Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon whom Trump plans to nominate for FDA commissioner. The British American said on the “Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio that vaccines “save lives,” although he added that it’s good to question the U.S. vaccine schedule for children.

The American Academy of Pediatricians encourages parents and their children’s doctors to stick to the recommended schedule of childhood vaccines. “Nonstandard schedules that spread out vaccines or start when a child is older put entire communities at risk of serious illnesses, including infants and young children,” the group says in guidance for its members.

Jay Bhattacharya, a doctor and economist who is Trump’s selection to lead NIH, has also supported vaccines.

Kennedy has said on NPR that federal authorities under his leadership wouldn’t “take vaccines away from anybody.” But the FDA oversees approval of vaccines, and, under his leadership, the agency could put vaccine skeptics on advisory panels or could make changes to a program that largely protects vaccine makers from consumer injury lawsuits.

“I do believe that autism does come from vaccines,” Kennedy said in 2023 on Fox News. Many scientific studies have discredited the claim that vaccines cause autism.

Ashish Jha, a doctor who served as the White House COVID response coordinator from 2022 to 2023, noted that Bhattacharya and Makary have had long and distinguished careers in medicine and research and would bring decades of experience to these top jobs. But, he said, it “is going to be a lot more difficult than they think” to stand up for their views in the new administration.

It’s hard “to do things that displease your boss, and if [Kennedy] gets confirmed, he will be their boss,” Jha said. “They have their work cut out for them if they’re going to stand up for their opinions on science. If they don’t, it will just demoralize the staff.”

Most of Trump’s picks share the view that federal health agencies bungled the pandemic response, a stance that resonated with many of the president-elect’s voters and supporters — even though Trump led that response until Joe Biden took office in 2021.

Kennedy said in a 2021 Louisiana House oversight meeting that the COVID vaccine was the “deadliest” ever made. He has cited no evidence to back the claim.

Federal health officials say the vaccines have saved millions of lives around the globe and offer important protection against COVID. Protection lasts even though their effectiveness wanes over time.

The vaccines’ effectiveness against infection stood at 52% after four weeks, according to a May study in The New England Journal of Medicine, and their effectiveness against hospitalization was about 67% after four weeks. The vaccines were produced through Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership Trump launched in his first term to fast-track the shots as well as other treatments.

Makary criticized COVID vaccine guidance that called for giving young children the shots. He argued that, for many people, natural immunity from infections could substitute for the vaccine. Bhattacharya opposed measures used to curb the spread of COVID in 2020 and advised that everyone except the most vulnerable go about their lives as usual. The World Health Organization warned that such an approach would overwhelm hospitals.

Mehmet Oz, Trump’s choice to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency within HHS, has said the vaccines were oversold. He promoted the use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment. The FDA in 2020 revoked emergency authorization of hydroxychloroquine for COVID, saying that it was unlikely to be effective against the virus and that the risk of dangerous side effects was too high.

Janette Nesheiwat, meanwhile, a former Fox News contributor and Trump’s pick for surgeon general, has taken a different stance. The doctor described COVID vaccines as a gift from God in a Fox News opinion piece.

Kennedy’s qualms about vaccines are likely to be a central issue early in the administration. He has said he wants federal health agencies to shift their focus from preparing for and combating infectious disease to addressing chronic disease.

The shifting focus and questioning of vaccines concern some public health leaders amid the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cattle. There have been 60 human infections reported in the U.S. this year, all but two of them linked to exposure to cattle or poultry.

“Early on, they’re going to have to have a discussion about vaccinating people and animals” against bird flu, said Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “We all bring opinions to the table. A department’s cohesive policy is driven by the secretary.”

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.