Former vice president says influential vaccine advisory panel could be ‘disbanded’ after lawsuit
For years, ACIP has advised on US vaccine policy. But after changes made to its membership by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were challenged in court, the Trump administration is apparently changing its stance.
Photo by Eliza Novellaz/Getty Images
An influential and independent vaccine advisory panel has apparently been disbanded, according to its former vice chairman, Robert Malone. For more than half a century, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has informed U.S. public health policy, helping to set the nation’s recommended routine childhood and adult vaccination schedules.
one in social media post On Thursday, Malone said the Trump administration had decided to disband and “re-form a new ACIP committee.” Malone said the move was a response to a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and five other medical groups that protested appointments of ACIP members by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. last year.
A federal judge ruled Monday that Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, likely appointed 13 ACIP panelists in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which mandates that such advisory groups be “impartial and balanced.” The decision blocked their appointments, effectively halting ACIP’s work.
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“Any new iteration of the committee must be consistent with the laws relevant to our case, including FACA,” says Richard Hughes, the AAP’s lead attorney in the case against Kennedy. “The lack of a qualified committee chosen through a proper process will compound our challenge.”
According to Malone’s post, the decision to remake ACIP somewhat would “take less time than would be required to file an appeal and prosecute a lawsuit. There would be no action on the part of the government to respond to the defamatory characterizations of former ACIP members.”
It is unclear whether the Trump administration plans to appeal any part of the judge’s ruling, which temporarily blocked sweeping changes to the country’s vaccine recommendations under Kennedy. At the time of the decision, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said scientific American The department was waiting for this decision to be overturned. HHS and Robert Malone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Editor’s note (3/19/26): This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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