Senate chair demands halt to HHS vaccine policy changes, citing 'turmoil' at CDC

The panel is set to hold a meeting Sept. 18.

Cassidy said ACIP should postpone the September meeting.

"Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting," Cassidy said in a comment posted on the Senate HELP website. "These decisions directly impact children's health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted."

Related: Trump Administration ousts CDC director over vaccine policy

If ACIP does meet in September without first getting additional oversight, "any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership," Cassidy said.

The backdrop: Traditionally, U.S. vaccination programs have had strong, bipartisan groups.

Health insurance and employer groups have mostly supported the idea that major medical plans should cover common vaccines without imposing deductibles, co-payment bills or other cost-sharing requirements on the patients.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new HHS secretary, is the founder and former chairman of the Children's Health Defense, a group that has opposed many U.S. vaccination programs, including COVID-19 vaccination programs.

Kennedy told members of the Senate HELP Committee during a hearing on his nomination to be HHS secretary that he would support use of vaccinations.

In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of ACIP. Many of the new members he put on the panel have been known as strong critics of U.S. vaccination programs. None is identified as someone representing the interests of employers or employer groups.

Most Democrats have opposed Kennedy's role as HHS secretary.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who teams with Democrats on many matters in the Senate, said in a statement Thursday that he is outraged about reports that Kennedy has fired Dr. Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because she has opposed vaccination program changes.

"Now is the time for all of us — whether you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, progressive or conservative — to come together and say enough is enough," Sanders said. "Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century... We are witnessing a full-blown war on science, on public health and on truth itself."

Cassidy's comment could carry more weight, because he voted for Kennedy on the Senate floor, and his decision to vote for Kennedy helped persuade some other Senate Republicans to vote for Kennedy.

What Cassidy's comment means: Employers and benefits advisors who want to have a clear understanding of what major medical vaccine benefits requirements will look like in 2026 may have some waiting to do.'

The vaccine program fight could also end up having indirect, hard-to-predict effects on funding for the Affordable Care Act public exchange program and other HHS programs that affect major medical insurance.

A House Appropriations Committee subcommittee is set to hold a markup, or official bill consideration session, on the HHS budget for fiscal year 2026, Tuesday.

The administration of President Donald Trump has been taking a relatively moderate approach to budget cuts and layoffs at the HHS division that oversees ACA programs.