Opinion: How Congress can fix expert advisory committees
“This evisceration of scientific advice is untenable,” write C. Joseph Ross Daval and Aaron S. Kesselheim.
In September, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the two vice chairs of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This action came as no surprise, yet it also raised serious concerns. The task force serves as a crucial advisory body within the Department of Health and Human Services, tasked with evaluating scientific evidence to make recommendations on whether private health insurers should cover services like cancer screenings without any patient cost.
It's important to note that Congress established this task force through the Affordable Care Act, mandating its staff to comprise individuals with "appropriate expertise" and, whenever possible, not to be influenced by political pressures. The recent firings mark just the latest episode in a widespread effort to dismantle, neglect, and supplant scientific advisory committees.
In 2025, the Trump administration disbanded 151 advisory committees at various scientific government agencies, with 75 of those belonging to the Department of Health and Human Services. Moreover, it has altered or ignored the remaining committees. In 2025, Kennedy terminated the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, responsible for offering public recommendations on vaccines.
His replacements, despite being sympathetic to his unscientific perspectives, either possess limited expertise in vaccines and immunology or lack it altogether.
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