Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of states filed a lawsuit today challenging the Trump Administration’s radical overhaul of the nation’s childhood immunization schedule. The complaint filed today names Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Jay Bhattacharya, and the CDC and HHS as defendants.
“In Oregon, we’re already seeing the consequences of the federal government’s reckless actions and vaccine narrative,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “Just last week, our state health officials declared a measles outbreak – with most confirmed cases linked to unvaccinated individuals. Preventable diseases are returning when we undermine public confidence in proven vaccines. We must trust science, trust doctors, and protect our children.”
The lawsuit challenges a January 5, 2026, CDC “Decision Memo” that stripped seven childhood vaccines—those protecting against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—of their universally recommended status. The complaint also challenges the unlawful replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the expert federal panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.
Among children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2023, researchers have estimated that routine childhood vaccinations prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.1 million deaths, generating $2.7 trillion in societal savings. This remarkable achievement has been made possible in large part by leading medical scholars and public health experts who have served on ACIP and established the science-based childhood vaccination schedule that federal agencies, states, and parents have confidently relied on for decades.
In June 2025, Secretary Kennedy abruptly fired all seventeen ACIP voting members and replaced them with individuals who lack the scientific qualifications required by ACIP’s own charter and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). At least nine of the thirteen current ACIP members lack the expertise or professional qualifications required for the role, and a majority have publicly expressed views aligned with Secretary Kennedy’s well-documented opposition to vaccines.
In December 2025, the reconstituted ACIP reversed nearly thirty years of CDC policy by eliminating the recommendation for a universal hepatitis B birth dose—a vaccine that is up to 90 percent effective in preventing perinatal infection when administered within 24 hours of birth.
Shortly thereafter, the CDC expanded its ideological attack on routine childhood vaccines. On January 5, 2026, then-Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill—who has no medical or scientific background—signed off on a “Decision Memo” that demoted seven vaccines from the universally recommended childhood vaccination schedule to a lesser status that invites confusion and uncertainty.
The Decision Memo was not based on any new scientific evidence, any recommendation by a lawfully constituted ACIP, or any systematic review of the available data. Instead, it relied primarily on superficial comparisons to purported “peer countries”—particularly Denmark—while ignoring the fundamental differences between those nations and the United States, as well as the overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule.
Additionally, in contrast to countries like Denmark with universal healthcare, more than 100 million Americans lack usual access to primary care, making the idea of “discussing vaccines with your clinician” essentially meaningless.
Contrary to Secretary Kennedy’s misinformation and insinuation, vaccines previously recommended on the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule remain safe and effective, and they are critical for protecting America’s children and public health at large.
The plaintiff states are asking the court to declare the Kennedy Schedule and the Kennedy ACIP appointments unlawful, and to enjoin, vacate, and set aside both the new immunization schedule and the unlawful appointments.
Joining Attorney General Rayfield in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.
