Trump returns to controversial vaccine policy with order questioning childhood schedule — SkimNews
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- Trump signed an executive order Monday recommending 11 childhood vaccines instead of the 18 previously on the federal schedule, spreading doses over a longer timeline; the administration offered no immunological evidence for the changes.
- The order directs the MMR vaccine to be split into three separate shots — a change experts say would take years of work and investment and is not supported by evidence; Trump claimed without evidence the combined shot could be "quite lethal," later backtracking.
- White House health policy adviser Heidi Overton said the order complies with prior court orders that had stalled earlier vaccine policy changes and would survive future challenges because the president has authority to recommend what he views as the scientific gold standard.
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate health panel, called the order "wrong" and said the president lacks the expertise to make these changes; multiple health experts also decried the lack of supporting evidence.
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the agency has launched "unprecedented" vaccine research, and the federal Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines was directed to issue a report backing the assertions in the order.
- The administration had previously avoided public discussion of vaccine policy after a Trump pollster warned "vaccine skepticism is bad politics," but HHS senior adviser Calley Means texted reporters: "Gloves are off," as Trump thanked "MAHA moms" at the signing.
- Hospitals and doctors have previously ignored vaccine recommendations from the Trump administration, arguing federal officials have not provided evidence to justify the overhauls.
Why it matters: This is a sharp pivot from the administration's earlier political caution on vaccines to open embrace of its skeptical base, with HHS adviser Calley Means texting reporters "Gloves are off." Health experts and Sen. Bill Cassidy's public break signal that the changes lack evidentiary support, and past precedent shows hospitals and doctors have already refused to follow similar federal recommendations without it.
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