RFK Jr. To Oust Key Health Panel Over ‘Woke’ Nonsense

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is eyeing another key health panel to reform, apparently due to members’ past “woke” comments and recommendations.

The panel in question is called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which has 16 members. The task force helps determine which cancer screenings and other preventative measures should be covered by insurance.

Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Kennedy is looking to oust all 16 members and replace them with his own appointments, as he did with a recent vaccine panel. RFK Jr. is reportedly motivated by past “woke” comments from the task force members.

The Journal highlighted recent commentary from The American Conservative, which detailed the panel’s “left-wing ideological orthodoxy.”

For example, the task force highlighted “racial discrimination” when discussing risk factors for anxiety in some children and teenagers. They also referred to pregnant women as “pregnant persons.” And in a publication on breastfeeding, the panel spoke about the “lasting psychological impact and stigma” of “enslaved Black women being forced to act as wet nurses.”

HHS said in a statement that Kennedy “looks forward to working with the USPSTF to improve public health.”

The apparent upcoming move follows RFK Jr. firing all 17 panelists on a highly influential vaccine panel called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP. His explanation of the removals was to restore public trust, citing conflicts of interest.

Kennedy said ACIP had “never recommended against a vaccine—even those which were later withdrawn for safety reasons,” adding that the panel “failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women.”

ACIP held its first vote with 8 new members appointed by Kennedy last month, and they voted to recommend a shot that protects infants against RSV, a respiratory virus that can be deadly for babies. The panel has also recommended flu shots without a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal. Kennedy has already moved to cement the recommendation.

ACIP is expected to tackle the childhood vaccination schedule, which is riling up critics.

The Daily Wire has reached out to HHS for further comment on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Related: RFK Jr. Targets Ultra-Processed Foods In Latest Move To MAHA