Committee disputes HHS vaccine-policy changes after ACIP removals and MAHA report errors

A central area of contention at the hearing was recent HHS actions affecting vaccine policy and vaccine advisory structures. Representative Frank Pallone and others said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions—firing all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replacing the panel—undermine public trust and removed experienced advisers from a public, long‑standing process.

‘‘You unilaterally fired all 17 members of the advisory committee on immunization practices…the medical experts who develop vaccine recommendations, and appointed 8 anti vaccine people,’’ Representative Pallone said during his opening statement, summarizing his concerns about the composition of the new panel.

Kennedy defended the personnel changes and the administration’s new process for vaccine guidance. He said the previous committee ‘‘was completely rife and pervasive with pharmaceutical conflicts’’ and that the department would move to ‘‘gold standard science’’ under new advisory arrangements. Kennedy described plans for a new ACIP-like panel chaired by experts he described as prominent statisticians and scientists; he specifically named Martin Kulldorff and Robert Malone in that context and said the new panel members were not ‘‘anti‑vaccine.’'

Another point of dispute was a commission report Kennedy had chaired—the MAHA assessment—intended to identify drivers of childhood chronic disease. Representative Raul Ruiz and others said multiple cited sources in the report were wrong or did not exist, and that journalists and some cited authors had told reporters their work had been misconstrued. Kennedy acknowledged he had not personally fact-checked the report prior to publication but said the central assertions were accurate and that corrections were issued promptly when errors were found.

Kennedy also announced a controversial change in department guidance related to COVID‑19 vaccination recommendations for pregnant people and children. Multiple members read or placed into the record language from the CDC’s website and from medical societies that stated vaccinations remain recommended for pregnant women and people at high risk; Kennedy said HHS ‘‘no longer recommends’’ COVID‑19 vaccination for pregnant women or children, saying safety data did not support a blanket recommendation. Several medical societies—including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics—were entered into the record by members to show disagreement with the change.

Several members asked Kennedy to commit not to retaliate against NIH scientists who signed public letters critical of the department; Kennedy responded that the administration was ‘‘depoliticizing science.’'

Ending: The panel signaled it will seek additional documents and hold further oversight, particularly on advisory‑committee governance and how major public‑health recommendations are made and communicated.