February 24, 2026
Joshua A. Bickel/Imagn Images
A lawsuit filed by Democratic leaders from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 13 other states challenged the Trump administration’s decision to reduce the number of recommended vaccines for children.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport were part of a coalition of Democratic leaders from 15 states that on Tuesday announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its move to lower the number of recommended vaccines for children.
The complaint also challenges U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to remove and replace all of the members of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last summer. The lawsuit asks the court to nullify the changes to the vaccine schedule and vacate the appointments Kennedy made to the ACIP.
"RFK, Jr. replaced established experts with an unqualified vaccine panel and issued a rogue vaccine schedule that gambled with children's health and lives," Davenport said in a statement. "This radical and unlawful overhaul of the nation's childhood vaccine schedule rests on fringe theories and ignores decades of science."
A Jan. 5 memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the number of "universally recommended" vaccines from 17 to 11 following a directive from President Donald Trump.
According to the new guidelines, immunizations against respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, as well as early shots against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningitis will only be suggested for high-risk kids. Rotavirus, COVID-19 and influenza vaccines will fall into the third "shared clinical decision making" category, along with later childhood doses of hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningitis shots.
The lawsuit lists the HHS, CDC, Kennedy and CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya as defendants.
"The Trump Administration and RFK Jr. are once again ignoring decades of science and evidence, pushing slop research that isn't based in reality and actively imposing new policies that will lead to more children getting sick from preventable diseases," Shapiro said in a statement.
Representatives with the HHS and CDC did not respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy fired all 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory board in June, saying that a "clean sweep" was needed to restore public trust. The committee was replaced with known skeptics of vaccine efficacy with limited experience in virology.
Davenport said in a release that at least nine of the 13 current members lack the "expertise or professional qualifications" for the role, adding that these appointments go against the ACIP's charter and the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
