A federal appeals court on Tuesday heard arguments regarding a lower court order that blocked 13 appointees chosen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from serving on a key vaccine advisory panel. Justice Department attorney Matthew Zorn told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that the injunction has effectively halted the work of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The administration is asking the court to vacate the block so the secretary can reconstitute the committee.
The legal challenge follows Secretary Kennedy's decision to remove and replace all 17 independent experts on the panel, which provides vaccine policy recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In March, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued an order blocking the new appointments, concluding that Kennedy had failed to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Murphy ruled that the secretary had bypassed the required scientific process and selected "distinctly unqualified" individuals for a committee intended to be composed of immunization experts.
During the Tuesday hearing, Chief U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron expressed concern regarding the legal justification for the lower court's specific relief, noting a lack of explanation for why blocking the appointees was authorized. Lawyers for the plaintiffs, which include the American Academy of Pediatrics, argued the order should remain to protect public health. They stated that the administration seeks to use the same process to install members who share Kennedy's views on rolling back childhood vaccinations.
The scale of the impact is currently measured by the total suspension of the committee's formal activities. Since Judge Murphy's ruling on March 16, 2026, ACIP has not met and has canceled two scheduled meetings. A third meeting, scheduled for October 21-23, 2026, is also expected to be canceled if the committee is not restored. The lack of a quorum prevents the body from voting on any new or existing vaccine policies, a change that medical groups argue could delay necessary updates to public health guidance.
The outcome of this case will set a precedent for how much authority the Department of Health and Human Services has to replace entire panels of independent scientific experts. The Trump administration has notably chosen not to appeal other parts of the March ruling, which blocked a January 5 move to reduce the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 and set aside previous ACIP votes regarding hepatitis B and COVID-19 shots. The appeals court has not yet issued a ruling on the narrow issue of the 13 blocked appointees.