White House Asks HHS Secretary to Limit Public Vaccine Skepticism

The White House has asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to tone down his public statements questioning vaccines ahead of the midterms, according to a report. Kennedy continues to lead a wide-ranging review of vaccine science across multiple federal agencies behind the scenes.

The review will examine Kennedy’s theories that vaccines cause chronic disease and may be linked to autism. These theories remain unproven by established scientific consensus.

The review is being led by Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician. Details about the scope and timeline of the review remain limited. Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who oversaw vaccine safety at the CDC until he resigned in August, told The New York Times that the review appears aimed at supporting conclusions Kennedy has already reached.

“It just demonstrates that no matter what the general tone is about vaccines, whether we talk about them or not, the secretary is going to continue to try and look at the data and analyze it in a way that will help support the conclusions that he’s already made,” Jernigan said.

” Under Kennedy, the government has reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines, removed members of a key vaccine advisory board, replaced the CDC director and suggested a link between vaccines and autism. These actions lack support from large-scale scientific evidence.

The changes have drawn support from some members of the Make America Healthy Again movement. However, they could create political challenges for Republicans in the upcoming midterms. An administration official told The Washington Post in February that vaccines are not popular issues to discuss, citing internal polling.

A February 11 memo from the president of an RFK-aligned advocacy group advised that policies on vaccine safety should be addressed with nuance because a slim majority of voters remain unconvinced of negative health impacts from vaccines. Recent polling released last week by KFF found that about four in 10 Americans express support for the MAHA movement. Fewer expressed confidence in the FDA.

More than 60 percent of respondents said health costs would have a major impact on their vote, compared with about 40 percent who cited food or vaccine policy. These polling results come as Republicans face voter concerns over the expiration of health subsidies last year, the lack of a replacement for the Affordable Care Act and the effects of a war in Iran that has increased energy costs.

Between the end of April and early May, 77 percent of respondents in a CNN/SSRS survey said policies have driven up the cost of living, with many pointing to the war and tariffs.