Dems probe RFK Jr's firings of CDC advisory panel members

Senate Health Committee Democrats on Tuesday launched an investigation into Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to fire the members of an advisory panel on vaccines.

Kennedy announced the firings in early June, removing all members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP).

“By removing all 17 of ACIP’s members and replacing them with eight individuals handpicked to advance your anti-vaccine agenda, you have put decades of non-partisan, science-backed work— and, as a result, Americans’ lives—at risk,” the Democrats said, according to The Hill.

The group, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., set a deadline of Aug. 12 for Kennedy to give them information on the firings. Notably, the Democrats are in the minority and lack subpoena power to compel his compliance with the request.