特朗普政府请求上诉法院允许肯尼迪任命疫苗委员会成员

Trump administration asks appeals court to let Kennedy pick vaccine panel members

2026-06-18 15:37:34 UTC / Reuters

By Nate Raymond

June 18, 2026 3:37 PM UTC Updated 4 mins ago

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks while U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a press conference to announce a link between autism and childhood vaccines and the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

• Summary

• DOJ said vaccine panel lacks a quorum for annual flu shot recommendations
• Appeal targets judge’s bar on 13 of the panel’s 15 members from serving
• CDC’s cut to routinely recommended childhood vaccinations remains on hold

BOSTON, June 18 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is urging a ​U.S. appeals court to overturn a ruling that blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointees from serving ‌on a key vaccine advisory panel, saying the committee is unable to make annual recommendations on flu shots after a judge wrongly disabled it.

The U.S. Department of Justice made that argument in a brief, opens new tab filed late on Wednesday before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its appeal of Boston-based U.S. ​District Judge Brian Murphy’s March 16 ruling, which also blocked the panel from reducing the number of routinely recommended childhood ​vaccinations.

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The Justice Department said it was not challenging that aspect of Murphy’s ruling, meaning that the U.S. ⁠Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s January 5 move to cut the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccinations will remain on hold.

Nor ​is the administration challenging Murphy’s decision to set aside other votes the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had taken under Kennedy’s watch, ​including to downgrade recommendations for hepatitis B vaccines for newborns and COVID-19 shots broadly.

Instead, the Justice Department focused narrowly on Murphy’s decision to bar 13 of ACIP’s 15 members from continuing to serve on the panel after concluding they were selected through a “tainted” appointment process in violation of the Federal ​Advisory Committee Act.

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They were appointed after Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist picked by President Donald Trump last year to head the U.S. Department of ​Health and Human Services, removed and replaced all 17 independent experts who previously served on the panel.

The Justice Department argued the judge had imposed “structural ‌handcuffs” that ⁠have prevented the panel from having a quorum to meet for the annual flu vaccine recommendation cycle, since any new appointees would likely need the court’s approval.

“Should a pathogen emerge tomorrow, the government’s only path to respond would run through the district court,” the Justice Department argued.

Richard Hughes, a lawyer for the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups that had sued over the vaccine ​policy changes, in a statement said ​he was confident they would ⁠prevail on appeal.

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“This brief demonstrates that Secretary Kennedy’s sole interest is installing a select group of individuals to dismantle rather than restore vaccine policy,” Hughes said.

In his March ruling Murphy, who was appointed ​by Democratic President Joe Biden, said Kennedy paid little to no attention to a law requiring ​panels like ACIP ⁠to be balanced and picked “distinctly unqualified” individuals to serve on it, most of whom lacked any meaningful vaccine experience.

But the Justice Department in its brief argued FACA does not provide a means to challenge individual advisory committee appointments and the judge had no authority to reassess ⁠the wisdom ​of Kennedy’s appointments by going résumé by résumé.

“A federal judge who substitutes his ​own assessment of those questions has crossed the line between judicial review and executive staffing,” the Justice Department argued.

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At the department’s request, the 1st Circuit on Tuesday agreed ​to expedite the appeal, requiring all briefs to be filed by late July.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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