51ÊÓƵ

More than 300 health workers have complained to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department over the last month, saying that their religious or conscience rights have been violated by their employer. The complaints follow the creation of a new division within HHS that focuses on enforcing those rights and investigating complaints from employees who say their rights have been violated. (Hellmann, 2/20)

An official with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been placed on leave while the department looks into inflammatory social media posts, CNN reported Tuesday. Jon Cordova, the principal deputy assistant secretary for administration at HHS, previously shared stories on his social media accounts that included false claims about Gold Star father Khizr Khan, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Hillary Clinton, CNN found. (Samuels, 2/20)

A lesbian married couple from Texas is suing the federal government after they say that a Catholic nonprofit that receives taxpayer funding denied them the opportunity to serve as foster parents for refugee children because of their sexual orientation. Fatma Marouf, 41, and Bryn Esplin, 33, both professors at Texas A&M University in Fort Worth, said they were beginning the process to become refugee foster parents last year when they were told by a local charity, Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, that they did not qualify after it became clear that they were a same-sex couple, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in district court in Washington. (Rosenberg, 2/20)