Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing three major federal lawsuits over his changes at the Department of Health and Human Services: one brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and allied medical groups over the childhood vaccine schedule, one by a coalition of state attorneys general over the same vaccine policies, and one by 19 states and the District of Columbia over the mass layoffs and reorganization of HHS itself. The RFK lawsuits over vaccine changes have already produced a March 2026 federal court order blocking Kennedy’s revised immunization schedule and halting his reconstituted advisory committee, and a separate July 2025 injunction stopping parts of the HHS restructuring.
What Kennedy Changed at HHS
The suits track a series of actions that began soon after Kennedy was confirmed in early 2025. On May 19, 2025, he issued a directive removing the COVID-19 vaccine from the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women, announced through a video on X rather than the usual regulatory process and ahead of a scheduled vote by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.1ABC News. RFK Jr. Cuts COVID Vaccine Recommendation for Healthy Kids2CBS News. RFK Jr. COVID Vaccines CDC Children Pregnant Women
On June 9, 2025, Kennedy fired all 17 voting members of ACIP, citing what he called “persistent conflicts of interest.”3Fierce Healthcare. Providers Lawsuit Against RFK Now Asks Court to Nullify ACIPs Recent Vaccine Recommendations He appointed replacements within days. Plaintiffs later alleged that at least nine of the 13 members seated by early 2026 lacked the professional expertise ACIP’s charter required and that a majority had publicly expressed anti-vaccine views.4State of New Jersey. Arizona v. Kennedy Announcement
The reconstituted committee then reversed the longstanding universal recommendation for hepatitis B vaccination of newborns, moving it to “shared clinical decision-making.”5Commonwealth Fund. Kids Lose When Vaccine Coverage Rules Are Unclear On January 5, 2026, acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill signed a decision memo eliminating universal childhood recommendations for four more vaccines: rotavirus, hepatitis A, meningococcal disease, and influenza.6FactCheck.org. The Facts on the Vaccines the CDC No Longer Recommends for All Kids Combined with the earlier COVID-19 and hepatitis B changes, the number of universally recommended childhood vaccines fell from 17 to 11.7CIDRAP. Trump Executive Order Directs CDC to Realign Childhood Vaccine Recommendations
American Academy of Pediatrics v. Kennedy
The lead vaccine case, American Academy of Pediatrics v. Kennedy (No. 1:25-cv-11916), was filed July 7, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs are the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and an anonymous pregnant physician identified as “Jane Doe.”8IDSA. Leading Medical Professional Societies Patient Sue HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Unlawful Unilateral Vaccine Changes
The complaint originally challenged Kennedy’s May 2025 directive on the COVID-19 vaccine as “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing he had bypassed the scientific process Congress built around ACIP.9APHA. AAP et al. vs. RFK Jr. Vaccines Complaint After Kennedy replaced the committee, the plaintiffs amended their complaint to challenge the new panel’s composition, alleging members were selected based on political affiliation and ideological alignment with the Secretary. They said Kennedy required candidates to be registered Republicans or Independents who had not previously criticized him or the President.3Fierce Healthcare. Providers Lawsuit Against RFK Now Asks Court to Nullify ACIPs Recent Vaccine Recommendations
The March 2026 Preliminary Injunction
On January 6, 2026, Judge Brian E. Murphy denied the government’s motion to dismiss, finding the plaintiffs’ claims about ACIP’s imbalance “plausible.”3Fierce Healthcare. Providers Lawsuit Against RFK Now Asks Court to Nullify ACIPs Recent Vaccine Recommendations On March 16, 2026, he granted a preliminary injunction in part, finding plaintiffs were “likely to succeed in showing that the reconstitution of ACIP and the January 2026 changes to the childhood immunization schedule violate the Administrative Procedure Act.”10Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. Memorandum and Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction
The 45-page ruling characterized the ACIP replacement as a “pretextual effort” and found the new appointments lacked the rigorous screening that had been standard practice. It blocked the January 2026 schedule changes, halted decisions made by the reconstituted ACIP, and barred the committee from holding further meetings.11Healthcare Dive. RFK ACIP Childhood Vaccine Policy Court Blocked Judge Murphy wrote that “there is a method to how these decisions historically have been made — a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements. Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.”12New York Times. Childhood Vaccines Lawsuit Kennedy
A key legal finding was that Congress intended ACIP to be a “meaningful participant” in setting immunization schedules and that the CDC director could not act “entirely apart” from the committee. Because CDC recommendations directly affect civil liability protections under the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act and drive insurance and Medicaid coverage, the court held the challenged actions constituted “final agency action” subject to judicial review.10Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. Memorandum and Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said, “H.H.S. looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned.”12New York Times. Childhood Vaccines Lawsuit Kennedy13STAT News. HHS Appealing ACIP Vaccine Policy Lawsuit Ruling14Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. American Academy of Pediatrics et al. v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. et al.
Arizona v. Kennedy: The States’ Vaccine Suit
On February 24, 2026, 14 state attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania filed Arizona v. Kennedy (No. 3:26-cv-01609) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The coalition includes New Jersey, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.4State of New Jersey. Arizona v. Kennedy Announcement The suit targets the same January 5, 2026, decision memo and challenges the reconstituted ACIP under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Unlike the Massachusetts case, this one has not produced a preliminary injunction. The government moved to dismiss on standing grounds, and a hearing on that motion is scheduled for August 13, 2026, before Judge Vince Chhabria. The court has ordered the government to produce the administrative record and referred discovery matters to a magistrate judge.15Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. State of Arizona v. Kennedy
New York v. Kennedy: The HHS Restructuring Suit
A separate suit targets Kennedy’s overhaul of HHS itself. State of New York v. Kennedy (No. 1:25-cv-00196) was filed May 5, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island by 19 states and the District of Columbia.16Vermont Attorney General. Attorney General Clark Sues Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Stop Dismantling Health and Human Services The states allege Kennedy’s plan to cut 10,000 jobs, consolidate 28 divisions into 15, and close half the department’s regional offices was carried out without congressional authorization, violating the Administrative Procedure Act, the Appropriations Clause, and the constitutional separation of powers.17Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. New York et al. v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. et al. The complaint alleges Kennedy admitted to foregoing a line-by-line review of the terminations to preserve “political momentum.”18New York Attorney General. State of New York et al. v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. et al. Complaint
On July 1, 2025, Judge Melissa R. DuBose issued a preliminary injunction halting the firings and reorganization at four HHS units: the CDC, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, the Office of Head Start, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. When the government sought to lift the injunction by pointing to recent Supreme Court stays in related federal workforce cases, Judge DuBose denied the motion on July 18, 2025, finding her order did not rest on the same legal grounds.19Bloomberg Law. Preliminary Injunction in New York v. Kennedy The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss on April 7, 2026, and the case continues.20Oregon Department of Justice. Dismantling of Health and Human Services – New York v. Kennedy
Why These Cases Matter Beyond the Courtroom
CDC vaccine recommendations do not simply advise physicians. Under the Affordable Care Act, most private insurers must cover CDC-recommended vaccines at no cost to patients, and Medicaid and the Vaccines for Children program tie coverage to ACIP recommendations. When a vaccine loses “universal” status, the coverage guarantee is no longer automatic, and providers face documentation burdens to prove medical necessity under a “shared clinical decision-making” framework.5Commonwealth Fund. Kids Lose When Vaccine Coverage Rules Are Unclear
Coverage disruption has been limited so far. AHIP, the health insurance trade group, confirmed there had been no coverage changes and that insurers had pledged to keep covering all previously recommended vaccines through the end of 2026.21Stateline. States Go Their Own Way as RFK Jr. Shifts Federal Vaccine Policy States have moved to insulate themselves regardless. As of January 2026, 24 states had decoupled from federal vaccine recommendations, up from 13 in September 2025, relying instead on state-level advisory panels or the American Academy of Pediatrics.22KFF. The New Federal Vaccine Schedule What Changed New Jersey passed legislation formally separating its recommendations from federal rules, and at least 14 other states and the District of Columbia had introduced similar bills.