Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), marking a major shake-up in U.S. vaccine policy.
The move, announced Monday, follows President Trump’s Restoring Gold Standard Science executive order and reflects a broader strategy to reset public health governance in America.
Kennedy, once one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists, said the ouster was necessary to restore trust and ensure that government scientific decisions are driven by “credible, reliable, and impartial evidence.”
In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy accused the Biden administration of stacking ACIP with ideologically aligned members — 13 of the 17 were appointed in 2024 — in what he described as an effort to entrench a particular public health agenda and block reform until at least 2028.
“The prior administration made a concerted effort to lock in public health ideology and limit this administration’s ability to restore trust in vaccines,” Kennedy said. “A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”
Critics of the move have expressed concern over bypassing standard consultation processes. Earlier this year, Kennedy changed COVID-19 vaccine guidelines without first consulting ACIP, a break from long-standing precedent.
Kennedy pledged that the new appointees will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine — not industry interests.
“The Committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas,” he added. “Only through radical transparency and gold standard science will we earn back the trust of the American people — and the world.”
