Kennedy’s Vaccine Agenda Hits Roadblocks, Diminishing His Clout

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s crusade to scale back Americans’ reliance on vaccines has collided with political and legal realities that have endangered the Senate confirmation of one top health official, delayed the nomination of another and diminished his clout in Washington.

A string of developments over the past several weeks have put Mr. Kennedy’s vaccine agenda at risk. The confirmation of Dr. Casey Means, President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, is stalled on Capitol Hill, where three Republicans on the Senate Health Committee, including its chairman, have expressed concern about her views on vaccines.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump missed a deadline to nominate a permanent director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving the agency officially leaderless. The White House is trying to find someone who fits with Mr. Kennedy’s broader health agenda but whose views of vaccines are conventional enough to win Senate confirmation.

Last week, a federal judge blocked Mr. Kennedy’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. And on Wednesday, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is running the C.D.C. even though his time as acting director has expired, made the new normal clear.

“I think it is vital that every kid in this country get the measles vaccine — absolutely vital,” he said, according to a recording obtained by The New York Times, adding, “Bobby’s fine with me saying that.”

All told, it is a major setback for Mr. Kennedy, whose Make America Healthy Again movement and his legion of mostly white, mostly female followers — the so-called “MAHA Moms” — helped power Mr. Trump to victory in 2024. Speculation has lately been swirling in Washington that he will leave his job running the Department of Health and Human Services, but his closest adviser, Stefanie Spear, dismissed it.