Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today joined a coalition of 15 states in challenging the Trump Administration's radical and unlawful overhaul of the nation's childhood immunization schedule.

The lawsuit challenges a January 5, 2026 CDC "Decision Memo" that stripped seven vital childhood vaccines—those protecting against rotavirus, meningitis, 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) with unqualified individuals. The complaint 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.

The evidence that vaccines save lives and reduce illness is overwhelming. Among children born in the United States 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 because of the science-based childhood vaccination schedule that federal agencies, states, and parents have confidently relied on for decades to keep children healthy. Under RFK Jr., HHS has undermined that trust and departed from established science that has saved over a million lives.

“Protecting children is a priority for our office. Compare that to the Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy, whose reckless approach to public health policy gambles with children’s lives and puts our communities in danger. RFK, Jr., replaced established experts with an unqualified vaccine panel and issued a rogue vaccine schedule that gambles with children’s health and lives,” said Acting Attorney General Davenport. “This radical and unlawful overhaul of the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule rests on fringe theories and ignores decades of science. I will continue to protect New Jersey families from these senseless attacks on science and their children’s health.”

"Public trust in vaccines is built on transparency, stability, and evidence-based clinical guidance. But that trust is fragile," said Acting Health Commissioner Raynard E. Washington. "As someone who's spent a career working to build that trust, it's indefensible that our federal health institutions are now undermining it. These reckless vaccine policies not only hurt public trust; they will lead to preventable suffering and death. New Jersey will continue to follow scientific and medical consensus and challenge actions that threaten the health of our state."

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 anti-vaccine views.

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% 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.

Contrary to Secretary Kennedy’s misinformation and insinuation, vaccines previously recommended on the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule remain safe and effective, and they are critical for protecting America’s children and public health at large.

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. The memo ignored the overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule.

New Jersey’s state immunization guidance is unaffected and remains grounded in scientific best practices and evidence. Still, the Trump Administration’s attacks on established science undermine public trust and may result in lower vaccination rates that would lead directly to higher rates of infectious disease. For New Jersey and other states, this means a greater strain on Medicaid programs, more taxpayer funds spent combating misinformation, and wasted resources decoupling state laws, regulations, and public guidance from ACIP’s and CDC’s now-untrustworthy recommendations.

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.

Acting Attorney General Davenport is joined in this lawsuit with the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.