RFK Jr. has destroyed over a quarter of health dept’s expert panels
A watchdog report says HHS under RFK Jr. has dismantled dozens of expert advisory panels—especially at NIH—raising questions about how major health and research decisions are being made and reviewed.
Mar 19, 2026
Sources
Summary
A Public Citizen report says HHS has terminated 75 scientific advisory committees (about 27% of its total), with the biggest cuts hitting NIH grant-review-related panels. Ars frames this as an intentional war on scientific expertise centered on RFK Jr.’s ACIP shakeup, while leaving key administrative and legal nuances (what “terminated” means, what replaced the panels, and what due-process rules apply) less developed. The story matters because advisory committees shape vaccine guidance, research funding decisions, and public trust in health policy—and weakening them can change outcomes even without new laws.
Reality Check
The most checkable core claim—HHS terminated 75 advisory committees (~27% of 273)—comes directly from Public Citizen’s published report materials, not just Ars’s characterization. (citizen.org)
The ACIP legal development is also more specific than “a judge blocked the changes”: reported accounts say the court stayed Kennedy’s ACIP appointments and stayed votes and a revised schedule, framing the dispute heavily around compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (process and governance), not only the science debate. (idsociety.org)
Detail
Ars reports that HHS has terminated 75 federal advisory committees since the beginning of 2025, citing a March 17, 2026 Public Citizen report; Public Citizen describes this as 27% of 273 committees. (citizen.org)
Public Citizen and Ars attribute most terminations to NIH: 49 committees (reported as largely tied to scientific review and funding prioritization). (citizen.org)
Ars says CDC had nine advisory committees terminated and FDA had four terminated, with ACIP separately described as “undermined/remade.” (citizen.org)
Ars recounts the ACIP episode: Kennedy removed all 17 members (June 2025) and replaced them with new appointees; vaccine guidance influences insurance coverage and school requirements. (pbs.org)
Multiple outlets report a federal court action in Massachusetts temporarily staying Kennedy’s ACIP appointments and staying ACIP votes and a revised vaccine schedule, citing likely Federal Advisory Committee Act issues (procedural legality rather than scientific merits alone). (idsociety.org)
Ars cites a STAT report of a Johns Hopkins analysis (NIH RePORTER-based) finding NIH issued 74% fewer competitive/new awards as of March 3, 2026 compared with the same period in FY2021–FY2024. (statnews.com)
Public Citizen describes the broader pattern as termination and/or overhaul of committees (not solely outright dissolution), implying heterogeneous actions across agencies and panels. (citizen.org)
Ars highlights the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee appointments and claims at least eight new members endorse a debunked vaccine-autism link; the article says researchers formed a nongovernmental alternative panel in response (not independently verified here beyond Ars’s account). (arstechnica.com)