Even as Kennedy toes Trump line, his allies push back with call for more ‘medical freedom’
Daniel Payne reports on how the health industry and Washington influence and impact each other. He joined STAT in 2025 after covering health care at POLITICO. You can reach Daniel on Signal at danielp.100.
Chelsea Cirruzzo is a Washington correspondent at STAT, where she covers HHS. You can reach Chelsea on Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42.
WASHINGTON — White House officials are steering the Trump administration away from vaccine reform, fearing the political consequences of emphasizing a relatively unpopular issue in a key election year.
But the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a health secretary with a history of anti-vaccine activism — isn’t going along without a fight.
The administration’s shift began late last year, when Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio published a memo finding that “vaccine skepticism is bad politics,” especially as the midterm elections near.
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- Washington Correspondent Daniel Payne reports on how the health industry and Washington influence and impact each other. He joined STAT in 2025 after covering health care at POLITICO. You can reach Daniel on Signal at danielp.100.
- Washington Correspondent Chelsea Cirruzzo is a Washington correspondent at STAT, where she covers HHS. You can reach Chelsea on Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42.
