White House officials are pressing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to moderate his views on vaccines, a position that has become increasingly unpopular and could pose challenges for the Trump administration in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a March 16 report from The Wall Street Journal.
The issue is significant because Kennedy’s skepticism toward vaccines and other recent policy decisions have drawn criticism within the administration, raising concerns about their potential impact on voter sentiment during a critical election year.
Senior officials reportedly feel frustrated with Kennedy’s leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services, citing what they see as policy missteps. One major point of contention was HHS’s slow response to last year’s measles outbreak—the first since 2015 to result in a child’s death—which ultimately led to three fatalities and over two thousand confirmed cases, marking a 35-year high. This year, measles cases are again rising and may surpass last year’s total by summer. Despite these issues, sources say Kennedy remains in President Donald Trump’s favor but is losing support among other White House staff.
Kennedy continues to receive backing from his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Brian Hooker, chief scientific officer of Children’s Health Defense—a group founded by Kennedy—said, “We’re nowhere near done on the vaccine issue.” Jeffrey Tucker of the Brownstone Institute also voiced support for medical freedom and cited survey results indicating strong public support for vaccine choice: “The MAHA positions are still strong,” Tucker said.
However, divisions between MAHA supporters and mainstream administration officials appear to be deepening. A White House official described the current relationship between MAHA and MAGA movements as “a low point.”
Beyond vaccine policies, Kennedy has faced criticism for terminating thousands of grants related to mental health and substance use care—a decision quickly reversed after congressional pushback—and for reactions within HHS regarding FDA approvals such as a generic abortion pill. Leadership turnover at the Food and Drug Administration has also been highlighted as an ongoing concern following several controversial regulatory decisions under outgoing Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director Vinay Prasad.
Despite internal disagreements, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that “the White House continues to work hand in glove” with Secretary Kennedy.
