Mother Jones illustration; Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty
Long before he became secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was laying the groundwork for his war on vaccines. As the head of the anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy amplified once-fringe conspiracies about vaccine safety and joined a larger crusade against the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the government initiative that was established in the 1980s by Congress to compensate people who were able to prove a likely vaccine injury. In his current leadership role, Kennedy has leveraged political power, transforming conspiracy theories into action—and reshaping American vaccine policy in just a few short months.
January 10, 2017: Before Trump’s first term, Kennedy claims he was asked to chair a commission on “vaccine safety.” It never comes to pass.
June 29, 2021: A new edition of The Vaccine Court: The Dark Truth of America’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has a foreword by Kennedy.
May 9, 2022: Kennedy tweets that “the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program protects government agencies and corporations, not vaccine-injured children.”
April 19, 2023: Kennedy announces his run for president.
August 23, 2024: Kennedy suspends campaign and backs Trump, pledging to work on “the chronic disease epidemic” with him.
September 5, 2024: Kennedy debuts the “Make America Healthy Again” slogan in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, attracting a new cohort to Trump’s fan base.
November 14, 2024: Trump nominates Kennedy to serve as Health and Human Services secretary.
January 29–30, 2025: During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy says he’ll support the current vaccine schedule, insisting he just wants “good science.” He is confirmed after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor who heads the health committee, says he anticipates having “an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship” with Kennedy.
February 20, 2025: Kennedy postpones a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), thereby delaying recommendations for fall vaccines.
March 2, 2025: Amid a deadly measles outbreak, Kennedy writes a Fox News op-ed asserting that “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one.” He later touts unproven treatments for measles, including cod liver oil.
March 25, 2025: Kennedy hires David Geier to reportedly study the debunked link between vaccines and autism. Geier has been disciplined for practicing medicine without a license and had papers on autism claims retracted.
June 6, 2025: HHS pays $150,000 to an Arizona law firm for “expertise” on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program; a partner frequently represents people suing vaccine makers.
June 9, 2025: Kennedy fires all 17 members of ACIP and then appoints eight new members, three of whom have a history of anti-vax activism. Cassidy decries the move.
June 16, 2025: CDC expert Fiona Havers quits over Kennedy’s meddling in vaccination standards: “If it isn’t stopped and some of this isn’t reversed, like, immediately, a lot of Americans are going to die.”
June 23, 2025: Kennedy appoints Lyn Redwood—who ran the anti-vaccine group that later became Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense—to the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office. Before she is due to present to ACIP about concerns over thimerosal, an ingredient that anti-vaccine activists have long falsely claimed causes autism, her slides, citing a study that does not exist, are posted publicly. The citation is removed, but after her address, ACIP votes to no longer recommend flu vaccines that contain thimerosal.
June 25, 2025: Kennedy says the United States will stop funding GAVI, a global vaccine alliance. The $1 billion previously pledged, he says, will not be delivered until GAVI starts “taking vaccine safety seriously.”