Public Health Crisis Fueled by Vaccine Rollbacks

I am writing to urge you to intervene immediately in a rapidly escalating public health crisis driven by the Trump administration's rollback of routine childhood vaccine recommendations and the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services. This crisis is no longer speculative. The CDC has now formally implemented a scaled-back childhood immunization schedule, removing several long-standing vaccines from universal recommendation and shifting them to "shared decision-making" or limited-risk categories. This change is active federal policy, not a draft proposal, and it is unfolding while the US in the middle of an alarming rise in cases of preventable diseases. Measles cases exceeded 2,000 in 2025, with dozens of outbreaks and 3 confirmed deaths, reversing decades of progress. Whooping cough (pertussis) surged to more than 35,000 cases in 2024, up fivefold from the prior year, with infants bearing the greatest risk-roughly one in three infected babies required hospitalization. At the same time, the 2024-2025 flu season recorded nearly 280 pediatric deaths, the highest number ever reported in CDC seasonal surveillance. These outbreaks are occurring alongside a sustained decline in routine childhood vaccination. Kindergarten coverage has fallen from about 95% before the pandemic to under 93%, leaving hundreds of thousands of children under-immunized and communities vulnerable to rapid spread. Weakening evidence-based vaccine guidance while sidelining scientific consensus and elevating a long-time vaccine skeptic to oversee national health policy during active outbreaks is reckless. Congress has both the authority and the obligation to act. I urge you to: 1. Hold immediate oversight hearings on the CDC's revised immunization schedule, including whether established scientific advisory processes were bypassed or politicized. 2. Use legislative and appropriations powers to protect evidence-based vaccine policy, public health communication, and universal access to routine immunizations. 3. Move to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from office. If investigations reveal abuse of authority, deception, or willful endangerment of public health, Congress should pursue all lawful remedies. Preventable disease should never be the price of ideology. Children deserve leadership grounded in science, transparency, and accountability. Please act now.