By firing all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine panel, RFK Jr. has imperiled vaccine access in the US, critics say.
By Mike Ludwig ,
July 30, 2025
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a roundtable discussion on soil health in the Mike Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C.Michael M. Santiago/ Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and top Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee have launched an investigation into Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his decision to fire all 17 members of a key recommendation panel that sets federal vaccine policy. After firing the experts, Kennedy replaced them with vaccine skeptics who critics say are putting the health of millions at risk.
Sanders is the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), but Democrats remain in the minority, and the investigation is not backed by a full committee vote. However, the probe puts additional pressure on HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Cassidy, a longtime physician who previously promoted vaccination for low-income families in his home state of Louisiana. Cassidy is now under fire for casting a key vote in favor of installing Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and celebrity of the anti-vaxxer movement, at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Sanders said on Tuesday that Kennedy has upended decades of scientific research and vaccine policy by gutting the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replacing 17 nonpartisan medical experts with “ideologues” and “conspiracy theorists” who threaten to undermine public confidence in vaccines that have prevented deadly outbreaks of disease for decades.
Democrats have accused Kennedy of lying to Cassidy about his intentions for the vaccine committee during a heated confirmation hearing in January, which both Kennedy and Cassidy have denied. ACIP meets about three times a year to set policies for the CDC’s vaccine schedule, which can determine the availability and cost of various vaccines for millions of people.
“Secretary Kennedy has spread lies about safe and effective vaccines for decades,” Sanders said in a statement. “Unfortunately, since he was confirmed, Secretary Kennedy has doubled down on his disinformation campaign and war on science. This will lead to preventable illness and death.”
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and top Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee have launched an investigation into Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his decision to fire all 17 members of a key recommendation panel that sets federal vaccine policy. After firing the experts, Kennedy replaced them with vaccine skeptics who critics say are putting the health of millions at risk.
Sanders is the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), but Democrats remain in the minority, and the investigation is not backed by a full committee vote. However, the probe puts additional pressure on HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Cassidy, a longtime physician who previously promoted vaccination for low-income families in his home state of Louisiana. Cassidy is now under fire for casting a key vote in favor of installing Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and celebrity of the anti-vaxxer movement, at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Sanders said on Tuesday that Kennedy has upended decades of scientific research and vaccine policy by gutting the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replacing 17 nonpartisan medical experts with “ideologues” and “conspiracy theorists” who threaten to undermine public confidence in vaccines that have prevented deadly outbreaks of disease for decades.
Democrats have accused Kennedy of lying to Cassidy about his intentions for the vaccine committee during a heated confirmation hearing in January, which both Kennedy and Cassidy have denied. ACIP meets about three times a year to set policies for the CDC’s vaccine schedule, which can determine the availability and cost of various vaccines for millions of people.
“Secretary Kennedy has spread lies about safe and effective vaccines for decades,” Sanders said in a statement. “Unfortunately, since he was confirmed, Secretary Kennedy has doubled down on his disinformation campaign and war on science. This will lead to preventable illness and death.”
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During Kennedy’s confirmation hearing, Cassidy pressed Kennedy for answers on his approach to vaccines and was torn over how to vote on the nomination. Cassidy and Senate Republicans were under intense pressure from President Donald Trump to approve Kennedy along with a controversial list of cabinet members — including former TV star-turned Medicare czar Mehmet Oz — that watchdog groups say are now destabilizing the nation’s already struggling health system.
Cassidy said he voted to confirm Kennedy after the nominee pledged to “maintain” the CDC’s vaccine committee “without changes.”
In a February 4 speech on the Senate floor, Cassidy affirmed decades of scientific research in asserting the widely held medical consensus that vaccines are “safe,” “save lives,” and “do not cause autism.” His restatement of these scientific facts was a direct rebuke to the anti-vaccine conspiracy theories that went viral during pandemic lockdowns and have long been championed by Kennedy and his allies. However, Cassidy said he voted to confirm Kennedy after the nominee pledged to “maintain” the CDC’s vaccine committee “without changes” and consult with Cassidy about hiring decisions at HHS. The Senate confirmed Kennedy as health secretary with a 52-48 vote along party lines.
Since taking office, Kennedy has launched what critics call a war on vaccines. In June Kennedy appointed Lyn Redwood, former director of the anti-vaxxer group that later became Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense, to the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office, where she has cited research that does not exist.
Amid the worst outbreak of measles in 33 years, which radiated from communities in Texas with low vaccination rates, Kennedy described the decision to vaccinate as a “personal one” and promoted unproven treatments such as cod liver oil. Experts liken Kennedy’s approach to medicine to the ancient “miasma theory,” which predates our modern understanding of germs.
On June 9, Kennedy gutted the CDC’s vaccine committee and replaced the 17 nonpartisan medical experts with eight individuals who Sanders and Democrats say were handpicked to advance an anti-vaccine agenda. The vaccine committee’s new members include a business school professor who spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines online, a nurse and former research director of an anti-vaccine group with links to Kennedy, and researchers who were paid to testify in court against vaccine makers.
In late June, Cassidy pushed back on the decision to gut the vaccine committee and move ahead with a regularly scheduled meeting despite the shakeup, which left ACIP with far fewer members. The committee has quietly worked behind the scenes to advise the CDC for 60 years but was caught up in the controversy around vaccines that exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Cassidy said on X in June.
Citing Cassidy’s post on X, Sanders penned a letter to the physician and senator requesting that the Senate HELP Committee launch a bipartisan investigation into the details around Kennedy’s decision to abruptly dismiss the ACIP members and replace them with vaccine skeptics. Senate Republicans have been unable to stand up to Trump on a host of issues, and it’s no surprise that a bipartisan investigation never materialized.
A spokeswoman at Cassidy’s office in the Capitol declined to comment on Kennedy’s vaccine policies and the investigation launched by Sanders.
Along with Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) and four other Democrats, Sanders is now launching a partisan probe of Kennedy’s vaccine policies. In a letter to Kennedy on Tuesday, the senators demanded answers about the process behind Kennedy’s gutting of the CDC’s vaccine committee and other policies.
“As your new ACIP makes recommendations based on pseudoscience, fewer and fewer Americans will have access to fewer and fewer vaccines,” the senators wrote. “And as you give a platform to conspiracy theorists, and even promote their theories yourself, Americans will continue to lose confidence in whatever vaccines are still available.”
Lower vaccination rates are predicted to cause a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as hepatitis, meningitis, mumps, pertussis, pneumonia, tetanus, and chickenpox, the senators wrote. However, without the full Senate HELP Committee behind Sanders and the Democrats, Kennedy may choose to ignore the investigation and the senators’ inquiries. Democrats clearly see an opening for attacking the Trump administration when Kennedy’s policies cause real-world harms — but these harms are easily prevented in the first place.
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