Trump Administration’s “War on Science” Escalates as HHS Faces Mass Firings and Policy Overhauls
The Trump administration’s battle with science just took a dangerous new turn. Following a recent Supreme Court ruling, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a well-known vaccine skeptic, has been granted sweeping authority to overhaul the agency, including mass terminations—a move critics say politicizes science like never before.
Earlier this month, Kennedy abruptly canceled a key meeting of the US Preventive Services Task Force, and recently dismissed over a dozen top vaccine advisers. These actions mark what experts warn is a systematic dismantling of science-based decision-making within HHS.
“The current administration is waging a war on science,” declared Dr. Celine Gounder, a renowned infectious disease expert from New York University, in a blistering commencement speech at Harvard’s School of Public Health.
She warned of growing threats to public health institutions, cuts to life-saving research, a lack of urgency in tackling emerging health crises, and a coordinated assault on the scientific process itself.
“We’re not just seeing misinformation—we’re witnessing the censorship of science,” she added.
Since taking over at HHS, Kennedy's anti-vaccine rhetoric and aggressive cuts have triggered lawsuits and widespread outrage from the scientific community, both inside and outside the agency.
Experts are raising alarms that Kennedy’s policies are helping erode trust in vaccines, just as measles cases spike to their highest level in 30 years. Meanwhile, research budgets are being slashed, and what critics call a Trump-era “science purge” is accelerating.
In June, Kennedy ousted 17 members from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which guides the CDC’s vaccine schedule. His replacement panel includes vaccine skeptics, and within weeks, they rescinded support for flu vaccines containing an ingredient falsely tied to autism—a move met with fierce backlash.
“It felt like a calculated effort to undermine vaccine confidence,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, who chairs the Infectious Diseases Committee at the American Academy of Pediatrics. His group boycotted the first meeting in protest.
The unrest has spilled into the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where dozens of scientists released a detailed warning dubbed the “Bethesda Declaration”, stating that Trump-era cuts are crippling the agency’s mission.
Even before these drastic actions, healthcare scholars had been sounding the alarm over 10,000 HHS job cuts, research funding slashes, and what they view as an anti-science agenda.
Gounder slammed the administration’s “Orwellian doublespeak,” pointing out that declining vaccination rates now leave Americans vulnerable to outbreaks like measles, a disease once declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
The FDA, NIH, and other divisions have also been hit by massive budget reductions and staff layoffs, triggering public protests and further concern from the medical community.
In July, a federal court in Rhode Island temporarily blocked part of Kennedy’s HHS restructuring, siding with 19 Democratic state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, who sued Kennedy and other top HHS officials, calling the overhaul an “illegal and unconstitutional dismantling” of a vital federal agency.
The judge ruled that Kennedy and HHS lack the legal authority to unilaterally restructure agencies that Congress created. The lawsuit alleges that Kennedy has “systematically stripped HHS of the tools and staff needed to fulfill its mission.”
Still, on July 14, after a Supreme Court green light, the 10,000 staff layoffs went forward. Initially delayed due to court challenges, the cuts are now being enacted alongside a sweeping reorganization—shrinking HHS from 28 divisions to 15 and halving regional offices from 10 to five.
On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers are pushing back. Rep. Jamie Raskin, whose district includes thousands of NIH and FDA workers, led a group demanding the reinstatement of those fired, calling the cuts unlawful and dangerous.
“This shows a complete disregard for Congress’s constitutional authority,” said Raskin. “Trump wants to be the one who writes and enforces laws—but that’s not how our democracy works.”
Experts like Dr. O’Leary warn of long-lasting damage to American healthcare.
“This is unprecedented,” he said. “NIH funding has never been politicized—until now. These cuts will have devastating impacts on science and public health for years to come.”
Description:
"The Trump administration and RFK Jr. face backlash over mass firings at HHS, anti-vaccine policies, and deep science cuts shaking U.S. public health."