President Donald Trump has altered his stance on vaccine policy from his administration, urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step up investigations into a potential connection between childhood vaccines and autism, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Kennedy, who has consistently pushed for fewer childhood vaccination recommendations, was initially advised by White House political aides to soften his vaccine rhetoric leading up to the midterm elections, according to the report.
However, this strategy shifted in May when Trump signed an executive order instructing HHS to decrease the number of vaccines recommended for children. This decision reportedly caught senior health officials off guard since they had been operating under previous directives that downplayed the matter.
Since then, Trump has encouraged Kennedy to prioritize autism research and lower the number of vaccines suggested by federal guidelines. The president believed that reducing vaccinations might result in fewer autism cases, even though scientific consensus indicates that vaccines do not cause autism, WSJ noted.
Researchers have not pinpointed a clear cause for the rise in autism diagnoses; instead, they have linked this trend to various factors such as genetics, parental age, and enhanced screening methods.
US HEALTH and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (credit: KEN CEDENO/REUTERS)
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Trump unhappy with Kennedy’s progress
Tensions surfaced during a mid-June meeting in the Oval Office when Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Kennedy’s efforts, sources familiar with the situation told WSJ. The president allegedly feels that Kennedy has had enough time to push his agenda forward but is disappointed by what he sees as minimal progress. This pressure represents a shift from the political approach advised by White House aides. Polls conducted by veteran Trump adviser Tony Fabrizio indicated that skepticism around vaccines did not resonate well with voters while support for Kennedy’s food and agriculture policies was more favorable. Consequently, White House and HHS officials encouraged Kennedy to focus on topics like eliminating artificial dyes from food and advocating new dietary guidelines. His team categorized nutrition as a “green light” issue while considering vaccines a “red light” topic; thus, Kennedy largely avoided discussing vaccines publicly, according to WSJ. Trump’s renewed focus on vaccines and autism has now set him against this strategy which leaves HHS officials rushing to broaden autism research as Kennedy faces increasing demands for results according to the report. Kennedy’s past initiatives have also encountered legal challenges. A federal judge blocked his January plan aimed at reducing the number of diseases included in childhood vaccination schedules from 17 to 11 after ruling that it appeared the administration had bypassed federal vaccine advisory panels.White House tightens grip over HHS
Trump has continued publicly praising Kennedy stating in February “Who would’ve thought a Kennedy, we love a Kennedy, in the Republican Party?” Yet behind closed doors, White House staff directed an extensive review of HHS due to internal conflicts and concerns about how Kennedy is managing his role. Senior officials were reassigned while his advisory team underwent restructuring; Medicare chief Chris Klomp took charge of daily operations according to WSJ. Moreover, Trump seems increasingly interested in advice from Dr. Mehmet Oz which sparks speculation about Oz possibly succeeding Kennedy someday. “There’s frustration there,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner who is associated with Kennedy regarding their situation told WSJ. “It’s one of those situations where you have to accept some things so you can still pursue activities for the greater good.” self.__next_f. push([1,”0:[“$”,”$L9″, null,{“build Id”:”h9w O9JO60Wgnv FBD95 pqu”,”asset Prefix”:””,”url Parts”:[“”,”american-politics”,”article-904258″],”initial Tree”:[“”,{“children”:[“(routes-without-sub-menu)”,{“children”:[“articles”,{“children”:[“article”,{“children”:[[“article Id”,”904258″,”d”],{“children”:[“__PAGE__”,{}]}]}]}]}],”$undefined”,”$undefined”, true],”initial Seed Data”:[“”,{“children”:[“(routes-without-sub-menu)”,{“children”:[“articles”,{“children”:[“article”,{“children”:[[“article Id”,”904258″,”d”],{“children”:[“__PAGE__”,{},[[“$La”,”$Lb”,[[“$”,”link”,”0″,{“rel”:”stylesheet”,”href”:”/_next/static/css/b61033338359a17d. css “,”precedence”:”next”,”cross Origin”:”$undefined”}]]], null], null]},[null,[ “$”,”$Lc “, null , {“parallel Router Key “:” children “,”segment Path “: [” children “,”(routes-without-sub-menu) “,”children “,”articles “,”children “,”ar ticle “,”chi ldren “, “$ d “, “c hildren “], “error “:” $ undefined “,”error Styles “:” $ undefined “, “error Scripts “:” $ undefined “, “template “: [” $ “, “$ Le “, null , {} ], “template Styles “:” $ undefined “,” template Scripts “:” $ undefined “,”not Found “:” $ undefined “, “not Found Styles “:” $ undefined “}]], null ] }, [null,[ “$”, “$ Lc “, null , {“parallel Router Key “: ” children “,”segment Path “: [” children ,”(routes-without-sub-menu) “, ” chi ldren “, ” articles “,” chi ldren “] ,”error”: “$ und efined” ,”error Styles”: “$ undefi ned” ,” error Scripts”: “$ undefin ed” ,”template”: [ “$”,$Le, null ,{}] , “template Styles”: “$undefined” , ” template Scripts”:” $ unde fined”}, {“not Found”:”$undefine d”}]]}],[[null,[[“$”, Lf”,[ “”main”” + “”layout””, { “”class Name””: “”main-layout””, “”chi ldren””: [” $, “”, section,”, null,{ “”class Name””: “”main-page””, “”chi ldren””: [[“$, “”, LC,” “”, nul l,{ } ]] } ]}],[[“$”, footer,”, null,{“”class N ame=”” footer-layout””, “”chi ldren”” : [[“$”, section,”, null,{“”class Name:” footer-top””, “”chi ldren”” : [[“$”, section,”, nul l,{“”class Name:” footer-top-container””, “”chi ldren”” : [[“$”, section,”, nul l,{“”class Name:” footer-top-container-image-wrapper”,””,”ciuldren”:[[“$”, $” L10 “”, nul l,{“”width””:”””240″”” ,””height””: “””32″”” ,””class N ame:”footer -top -container-image-wrapper-image” +”alt = ‘”The Jerus alem Post – Israel News”‘,+”title =” The Jerusalem Post – Israel News “‘,+src =”https://images. jpost. com/image/upload/245904”}]]}], [“$”, section, NULL},{context Type,”footer-social-media-icons-wrapper-icon,”…”]..}..}]..].]Source link
