On June 9, 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the independent expert panel that advises the CDC on vaccine recommendations and sets the national immunization schedule for children and adults.
Kennedy's Justification
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published the same day, Kennedy wrote that ACIP "has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine" and that "a clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science." HHS framed the mass firing as a "bold step to restore public trust."
What ACIP Does
ACIP is the body whose recommendations determine which vaccines are covered by insurance, administered in schools, and included in routine pediatric and adult immunization schedules. Its members are independent medical and public health experts -- physicians, immunologists, epidemiologists -- selected for scientific expertise rather than political alignment. The committee's recommendations carry the force of federal policy through CDC adoption.
Response
The American Medical Association said Kennedy's decision undermines "trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives." The unprecedented wholesale removal of an entire advisory committee drew condemnation from medical organizations, infectious disease specialists, and former government health officials. No previous HHS secretary had ever removed all members of ACIP simultaneously.
Replacement
New committee members were announced as "under consideration," with the committee still scheduled to meet June 25-27. Critics warned that replacements would be selected for ideological alignment with Kennedy's vaccine skepticism rather than scientific credentials, effectively converting ACIP from an evidence-based advisory body into a tool for legitimizing anti-vaccine policy.
Context
The ACIP firing came less than three months after Peter Marks was forced out as FDA vaccine chief, completing a systematic dismantling of the institutional infrastructure that had governed U.S. vaccine policy. Together, these actions removed both the regulatory leadership (Marks at FDA) and the scientific advisory structure (ACIP at CDC) that ensured vaccine recommendations were based on evidence rather than political preference.