Senate Dems demand RFK Jr. records on ACIP overhaul
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- Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.), both Senate Finance Committee Democrats, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding he produce records by next week on the remaking of federal vaccine policy.
- Kennedy last year fired all previous members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and packed the panel with vaccine-skeptical allies, a move the Democrats are now formally probing.
- The requested documents include records of messages indicating who made and approved the decision to revamp ACIP, the risks considered before the change, and the vetting process for the new committee members.
- The senators said the inquiry aims to "assess the legality, decision-making process, and public health consequences" of the committee's overhaul.
- The letter was viewed by STAT and frames the ACIP changes as part of the Trump administration's broader remaking of federal vaccine policy.
Why it matters: The inquiry escalates congressional oversight of Kennedy's vaccine restructuring, with senators seeking internal communications, risk assessments, and vetting files behind the ACIP purge. By explicitly citing "legality" and "public health consequences" as their frame, Democrats are positioning the records demand as a precursor to potential legislative or legal challenges to the panel's overhaul.
