Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said Sunday that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a pledge to maintain the existing childhood vaccine schedule. During an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week,” Cassidy stated that Kennedy and the White House had provided him with guarantees last year that the schedule would not be altered. According to Cassidy, these assurances were given in exchange for his support of Kennedy’s confirmation to lead the department.
The disagreement follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that seeks to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines to 11. The order also proposes separating the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots. Previously, medical guidance recommended children receive the combined MMR shot twice between the ages of 12 months and 6 years.
Cassidy, who is a physician and chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted that while Kennedy might argue the changes were directed by the president rather than the HHS secretary, the outcome remains a reversal of previous commitments. Despite his criticism, Cassidy said he did not regret his confirmation vote, citing public support for Kennedy’s plans to address ultra-processed foods.
The executive order follows a period of personnel changes and legal challenges at the HHS. Earlier this year, Kennedy replaced all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The new members subsequently voted to delay certain vaccines, such as chickenpox and MMR, but U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy later invalidated those votes, ruling the panel had been improperly reshaped.
The scale of this policy involves the entire U.S. healthcare infrastructure, as the ACIP at the CDC sets the standards used by private insurance companies and state health departments. Senator Cassidy stated that he expects these changes to lead to increased insurance costs, though the specific dollar impact per household is not reported. Parents and guardians would notice changes in the number of clinic visits and injections required for their children to be considered up to date with federal health recommendations.
The next steps for this policy involve the implementation of the President’s executive order, which was signed last Monday. However, the legal status of such changes remains subject to judicial review; a federal judge has already invalidated previous attempts by the reshaped ACIP to delay vaccines. It is not yet known when the new schedule of 11 vaccines will become the official guidance for healthcare providers or how insurance mandates will adjust to the separate MMR injections.