the Department of Health and Human Services

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RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.

https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-vaccines-mrna-pfizer-moderna-1fb5b9436f2957075064c18a6cbbe3c9?

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RFK Jr.'s cuts stoke fear of lost breakthroughs

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

America has historically led the world in scientific innovation — driving economic growth, strengthening national security, and attracting global talent. But scientists, including some who served in President Trump's first administration, warn that lead could slip away under new moves by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Axios' Maya Goldman reports. Last week's mRNA divestment "risks stalling progress in some of the most promising areas of modern medicine," Jerome Adams, surgeon general in the first Trump administration, now a professor at Purdue, tells Axios. "Walking away from this technology now would be like pulling funding from antibiotics after penicillin or from computers after the microchip. It's short-sighted and puts us at a disadvantage globally." ⚡ Catch up quick: Kennedy said last week that HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority would pull nearly $500 million worth of contracts with universities, drug companies and other labs working on new mRNA vaccines. Scientists rebut the implication that mRNA vaccines are unsafe. The technology that brought mRNA COVID vaccines in Trump's first term has been in development for decades. Large scientific trials and real-world data have shown that the vaccines are safe and effective — and capable of training the body's immune system to create antibodies to fight a host of afflictions. HHS, when asked for the research on which Kennedy based this decision, sent Axios a link to a citation collection put together by anti-COVID vaccine advocates. The CDC has endorsed mRNA COVID vaccines for most adults. ? Zoom out: Researchers are studying how mRNA technology could treat or prevent cancer, HIV, and other chronic diseases — and the science so far is promising. "If we stop now, we could delay or even miss the next generation of cures entirely," said Adams, the former surgeon general. Keep reading ... Tina Reed contributed reporting.

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HHS

More than 750 current and former staffers of the CDC, NIH and HHS have signed a letter to demand work environments that are safe from violence and public health leaders who tell the American people the truth. The letter, which was addressed to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the US Congress, said the deadly attack on the CDC's global headquarters in Atlanta earlier this month was not random. “The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization — and now, violence,” the letter said. The staffers claim Kennedy was “complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation’s health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.” They also expressed gratitude to David Rose, the DeKalb County police officer who was killed in the August 8 attack.

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America's food reckoning

Photo illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

RFK Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement has thrown the nation's public health leadership into chaos — and is also playing into a larger food fight. Americans are asking louder questions about what's on their plates. For many, Kennedy's call to overhaul the food supply resonates, Axios' Erica Pandey reports. ? "We're clearly at an all-time high of public attention, policymaker attention and health care attention on food," says Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts. "We're at a moment where there could be real change." But the backlash against Kennedy's vaccine views is sucking the air out of his more popular food agenda. Scientists and doctors — including top officials who resigned in protest last week from the CDC — are warning that MAHA vaccine activism could unravel decades of hard-won progress in public health. By the numbers: Most Americans get more than half their calories from ultra-processed foods, like hamburgers, pizza and sugary drinks. It's hard to dodge these foods, when they make up some 70% of America's food supply. ? The tide is turning. Across race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, "people prefer natural or healthy foods and are flipping their products to see what ingredients are in them," says Josiemer Mattei, an associate professor of nutrition at Harvard. A study of more than 50,000 adults found the share eating a "poor diet" — one dominated by ultra-processed foods — fell from 49% in 1999 to 37% in 2020. The MAHA movement is intensifying scrutiny of America's food — from how it's produced and marketed to who profits — and demanding concessions from food and beverage makers. Republicans are joining progressives in challenging Big Food and Big Ag, a break from past GOP positions. HHS is rolling out new food rules — some welcomed by experts, others sparking debate. ? Zoom in: "One thing that they're rightly targeting is artificial food dyes," says Mattei, the Harvard professor. "In general, the nutrition community is in favor of that. They increase the palatability and aesthetic of the food, but they're harmful." The American public also favors more robust food safety inspections and better labeling, two pieces of Kennedy's agenda. Reality check: MAHA's emphasis on self-empowerment and self-responsibility, rather than medical professionals, has its limits. Perhaps the biggest flashpoint — vaccines — erupted last week when CDC director Susan Monarez was ousted, triggering a wave of resignations at the agency. As the Trump administration is touting a renewed focus on nutrition, it's slashing funding for medical research at unprecedented levels, fueling a science brain drain. The other side: "President Trump has the utmost confidence and trust in Secretary Kennedy to lead HHS and he only wants the best, brightest, most MAHA-aligned people on board to deliver on this important mission," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.

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? What America wants

Photo illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Americans across the political spectrum back Kennedy's efforts to improve America's food supply — but there's a partisan split over his views on vaccines, Axios' Maya Goldman reports. 87% of respondents in a recent Axios-Ipsos survey said the government should do more to make sure food is safe. 90% said it should be easier for the average American to understand food safety guidelines, something Kennedy has said he's working on. ? But there's a widening divide over the importance of childhood vaccines, according to a Gallup poll last month. 93% of Democratic and Democrat-leaning voters said it's extremely or very important that parents get their kids vaccinated, compared with 52% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters. ? By the numbers: 43% of adults surveyed by Pew in spring said they strongly or somewhat disapproved of Kennedy's job performance. 36% strongly or somewhat approved. But he's viewed more favorably than other Trump administration officials, including President Trump himself, per Gallup.

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? MAHA vs. corporate America

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The MAHA movement has scrambled political alliances by forcing a Republican administration to choose between placating its base — which is intent on cleaning up the food supply — or siding with powerful agriculture interests, some of which helped get President Trump elected. The early months of the administration have seen a push to eliminate synthetic food dyes, restrict ultra-processed foods and mandate new warning labels. Industries accustomed to GOP sympathy, or largesse, are turning into punching bags, Axios' Tina Reed reports. ? Case in point: To ease the pressure and head off the threat of new regulations, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Mars and Kellogg have all pledged to eliminate artificial dyes by 2027. 70% of Fortune 500 food and beverage companies, and 90% of pharmaceutical companies, have addressed MAHA-related topics in earnings calls this year, per Gravity Research. Reality check: The real test will be agriculture. Big GOP donors like Mountaire, Reyes Holdings and British American Tobacco have a lot riding on keeping regulation minimal — and appear to be getting their message across.

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Science under siege

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

By promoting debunked theories about vaccines and public health and accusing federal workers of being in cahoots with the drug industry, Kennedy and his allies have supercharged suspicion about mainstream science, Axios' Tina Reed reports. When four high-ranking CDC officials who had worked on mpox, Ebola, COVID data and the opioid crisis response resigned Wednesday, they cited Kennedy's political interference. "This administration is unlike anything we've ever seen," says Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC and now CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "I fear now that Secretary Kennedy will now be even further emboldened to issue the same reckless directives that [Susan] Monarez rightly refused," he says. State of play: The MAHA agenda has emphasized a focus on chronic disease, particularly in children. Along the way, Kennedy and his allies have promoted debunked theories about environmental toxins and connections between vaccines and autism. He's simultaneously presided over billions of dollars in research funding cuts that have halted ongoing studies and disrupted data collection. The upheaval has prompted some government scientists to take jobs with industry or abroad. Beyond the CDC, funds for state and local health departments were frozen. Lots of critical infrastructure — lab testing capabilities, food safety and disease surveillance, and bioterrorism threat detection— have all been diminished. Keep reading.

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MAHA's messengers

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

The MAHA movement's not-so-secret weapon is a network of moms on social media who amplify Kennedy's calls to clean up America's food supply. Why it matters: "Bro-casters" like Joe Rogan may help drive the political narrative. But Kennedy has turned to these "mom-fluencers" to further his agenda, which includes narratives that aren't scientifically sound, Axios' Tina Reed reports. ? Case in point: Influencers like Vani Hari, better known as the "Food Babe," can be found on social media platforms and on the podcast circuits. Hari, who has 2.3 million followers on Instagram and is a New York Times bestselling author, got dozens of protesters to travel to Kellogg headquarters in Battle Creek, Mich., last year to protest food dyes in the company's cereals and deliver petitions. The influencers' pet causes range from food additives and seed oils to the use of glyphosate in farming, fluoride in water and the vaccine schedule. They've coalesced around Kennedy's suspicion of the pharmaceutical and food industries, and his contention that regulators have grown cozy with the businesses they're supposed to be policing. Who's who: Nutritionist Courtney Swan, who makes content about improving the food system, has a large Instagram following. Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt is a podcast host who has focused on spotlighting widespread pesticide use, among other topics. Ana-Maria Temple is a holistic pediatrician with hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers. She makes content about nontoxic alternatives to everyday items. ? Reality check: While the influencers discuss the value of eating whole foods, getting exercise and quality sleep, and parental choice, they've often veered into misinformation. Hari has pushed the message: "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it" — also featured on a White House video. Scientists and nutritionists say this claim plays on fear and could blacklist common essential compounds because of their scientific names. Other influencers have surfaced debunked theories about vaccine safety. Read on.

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RFK Jr.

More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services have signed a letter demanding that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign. The employees claim Kennedy’s leadership has “put the health of all Americans at risk,” and cited as examples his facilitating the firing of CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez, his appointments of “political ideologues” to influential roles in vaccine policy and the rescinding of emergency use authorizations for Covid-19 vaccines. The letter also urged the president and Congress “to appoint a new Secretary of Health and Human Services, one whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science.” Numerous public health groups and lawmakers have also called for Kennedy to either resign or be fired. In an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, Kennedy claimed that his agency was “restoring public trust in the CDC.”

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Anti-science bills hit statehouses, stripping away public health protections built over a century

More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year, part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law. An AP investigation found that the wave of legislation is pushed by people with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Who benefits from the MAHA anti-science push? How AP tracked and analyzed anti-science legislation in US statehouses What Americans think about rising health care costs, according to a new AP-NORC poll

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RFK Jr. Admits He Has No Clue Who Drove His Campaign Bus to Burning Man

The bus driver’s true identity remains a question.

RFK Jr.’s office doesn’t know why his defunct campaign bus is still touring the country.

Since late August, one year after Kennedy dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, a campaign bus bearing his image and the words “Kennedy 2024” has been spotted in multiple cities. It has now made its way to Washington, D.C., where locals are complaining about its frequent, seemingly illegal parking jobs, the Boston Globe reports.

However, Kennedy’s office denies that the Health and Human Services Secretary has anything to do with the cross-country trip. An aide told the Boston Globe that Kennedy was “no longer affiliated with the bus.”

Kennedy’s office did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

The vehicle, which is identical to those used by Kennedy during his presidential campaign in 2023 and 2024, was first spotted in Santa Monica, California, in late August. Since then, it’s made stops in Reno, Nevada, Venice, California, Washington, DC, and even Burning Man.

The Kennedy campaign sold the bus in March 2025, according to FEC records. It was later purchased by MAHA Action, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing RFK’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

However, MAHA Action says it’s not behind the cross-country roadtrip, either. The group’s president, Tony Lyons, told the Globe that MAHA Action “does not currently own the vehicle,” but did not clarify whether it was sold, when, or to whom. MAHA Action did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

This is not the first vehicle bearing RFK Jr.’s face and name to pop up in an unexpected locale. In July 2023, two months after Kennedy launched his campaign for president, an RV bearing the slogan “The Remedy Is Kennedy” appeared in Ottawa, Canada.

That vehicle was driven by Kyle Kemper, the younger half-brother of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, and friend of RFK Jr. Kemper drove the bus regularly as late as October 2024, later updating its exterior to feature images of both RFK Jr. and President Trump.

Journalist Tal Kopan, who reported on the campaign bus for the Boston Globe, later clarified via X, “This bus is not the bus that is owned by a person who happens to also be related to Justin Trudeau. That is a different RFK bus.”

Most presidential campaigns don’t purchase their own campaign buses, instead choosing to rent existing vehicles and return them when the campaign is over.

However, the Kennedy campaign not only purchased its own, but sold its bus at a loss. After purchasing the vehicle for $191,000 in July 2023, FEC records indicate that Kennedy’s campaign sold it to a dealership in Wisconsin for just $165,000.

MAHA Action, the bus’s most recent known owner, is not directly affiliated with the HHS secretary, and both the PAC and Kennedy’s office have denied involvement with the vehicle’s recent sightings.

However, whoever is operating the bus does seem to be benefitting from the perceived association. The vehicle appeared to be operating without license plates in recent sightings in Washington DC, which is illegal in the district.

Locals have also taken to X to allege the bus is parking illegally in residential neighborhoods. One D.C. resident revealed via X that when he reported the bus for parking illegally, he received a notice from the Department of Public Works saying that no parking laws were violated because the vehicle was “Director of Health Kennedy Jr.[’s] health tour bus.”

The D.C. Department of Public Works did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

Secretary Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race in August 2024, though his campaign continued to accept donations until April 2025, some to support the Trump campaign and some to pay off Kennedy’s campaign debts.

The campaign has remained operational throughout 2025 to continue paying off debt, though a spokesperson told the Globe that the debts have now been paid and campaign operations will wind down by the end of 2025.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-admits-he-has-no-clue-who-drove-his-campaign-bus-to-burning-man/?

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• ?HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally ordered a change on the CDC's website promoting the widely debunked claim that vaccines may cause autism, he told the NY Times. Gift link.

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Childhood vaccines

The Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the nation's childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday. The expectation is that the US schedule would closely align — or potentially mirror — recommendations in Denmark, the source said. Denmark doesn't currently recommend immunization against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, for children, whereas the US does. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants. Denmark also doesn't recommend vaccines for rotavirus, hepatitis A, meningococcal, flu or chickenpox, all of which are on the schedule for US children. The plan has not been finalized, but the source said an announcement will likely come in 2026.

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New diet guidelines say to double up on protein, but nutrition experts are wary The latest federal dietary guidelines tell Americans to “prioritize protein foods at every meal” and advise increasing daily intake — up to double the amount of previous recommendations. Read more.

Why this matters: The guidance — including a new food pyramid — emphasizes red meat, whole milk and other animal sources of protein, while downplaying plant-based offerings. “We are ending the war on protein,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a White House post on social media.   Top nutrition experts question the protein push, saying Americans already consume more protein than they need, and there’s no new evidence that people need to drastically ramp up consumption. For many people, eating much more protein could lead to more fat and more cases of diabetes, they say.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Food companies are targeting users of weight-loss drugs with ‘GLP-1 Friendly’ labels

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Fluoride efforts show RFK's reach

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios New probes and bans on fluoride in public drinking water show how key parts of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda extend beyond his agency, Axios' Maya Goldman writes. The EPA last week released a preliminary plan to study fluoride exposure's potential toxic effects — the first step before possible rule changes. 💧 The federal government generally can't require communities to add or remove fluoride — but it can set maximum allowable amounts. The EPA review "will not prejudge any outcomes," agency biologist Todd Zurlinden said during a webinar last week. 🧠 But Kennedy said in a statement that "a growing body of evidence indicates that ingesting fluoride can cause neurological harm, and other adverse effects." EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said he's "working in lockstep with Secretary Kennedy." 🦷 New fluoride limits could upend an 80-year-old standard that's widely credited with reducing tooth decay. American Dental Association President Richard Rosato: The group is "hopeful that the EPA will use peer-reviewed, scientifically tested evidence rather than biased, mischaracterized studies." 🚫 Utah and Florida last year became the first states to ban fluoride in water. 16 other states have introduced legislation to restrict or ban community fluoridation since Jan. 1. David Mansdoerfer, who worked at HHS during the first Trump administration, tells Axios: "I think this trend shows a core area of MAHA's true political strength." Fluoride restrictions could help decrease overmedication of kids, he added — a topic that "resonates beyond the traditional Republican electorate." Go deeper.