Kennedy overhauls federal autism advisory panel, installs members who have questioned vaccines

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overhauled the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, installing 21 new public members who include several people who have said vaccines can cause autism, the panel that advises the federal government on autism research and services announced on Jan.

29, 2026. The committee, established in 2000, historically included autistic people, parents, scientists, clinicians and federal employees and holds public meetings to help set priorities for how federal funds should be allocated. The 21 new public members named by Mr. Kennedy include outspoken activists, a former employee of a super PAC that supported his presidential campaign, a doctor who has been sued over heavy-metal treatments for a child with autism, a political economist who has testified against vaccines before Congress, and parents who believe vaccines caused their children’s autism.

The group is joined by 21 government members across federal agencies. The panel will advise how to prioritize the roughly $2 billion that Congress allocated for autism research and services over the next five years, though it serves only an advisory function and it is not yet clear what the committee will do.

Many longtime autism advocates and researchers said they were alarmed that the new membership appeared stacked toward Mr. Kennedy’s priorities on vaccines. Dr.

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