RFK Jr. Rewrites CDC Vaccine Panel Rules After Court Blocks His Hand-Picked 'Non-Experts'

Following a stinging court rebuke, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved to rewrite the rulebook for a key federal vaccine advisory panel. A notice published in the Federal Register reveals Kennedy has amended the charter of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), granting himself greater authority to select members and loosening the requirements for membership. This maneuver comes directly on the heels of a judicial order that temporarily blocked his previous slate of appointees.

The legal setback occurred last month when U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy halted Kennedy's hand-picked advisors, whom he had installed after firing all 17 prior ACIP experts. Judge Murphy ruled that Kennedy's selections, which leaned heavily toward anti-vaccine views, largely lacked the expertise in relevant scientific fields mandated by the existing charter. The judge emphasized that a "committee of non-experts" could not satisfy federal regulations requiring advisory panels to be "fairly balanced" in representing viewpoints within the scientific community.

Kennedy's charter amendments now appear designed to circumvent the court's specific objections by altering the foundational rules for the panel's composition. The changes signal an intensifying institutional conflict over the scientific governance of public health policy, placing the credibility and operational independence of a critical CDC body under direct pressure. The move sets the stage for further legal and political scrutiny over the balance of expertise and ideology in federal health advisory roles.