MAHA Cheers and Public Health Fears as RFK Ousts Vaccine Panel

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of a vaccine advisory board this week. It's a move that's been roundly condemned by the public health community and cheered by Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" base.

This episode: political correspondent Sarah McCammon, senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and NPR health correspondent Will Stone.

This podcast was produced by Bria Suggs and edited by Lexie Schapitl. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from the Financial Times and the Swamp Notes podcast, exploring the intersection
0:05.7	of money and power in American politics. FT. reporters and columnists break down what the latest
0:12.2	moves from Washington mean for the global economy. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:18.7	Hi, this is Allie, your local driver's ed instructor from Chamberlain, South Dakota.
0:23.3	I just finished teaching 18 students how to drive, at least on paper for our classroom
0:27.3	portion of the class.
0:28.5	This show is recorded at 139 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025.
0:34.8	Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but there will for sure be 18 new drivers out on the road.
0:39.9	So buckle up.
0:44.6	Enjoy the show.
0:49.1	What a great thing.
0:50.6	That isn't important, but it sounds to me like a terrifying job.
0:55.3	Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Mara Liason, senior national political
1:01.1	correspondent. Today on the show, we're talking about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s latest moves to reshape
1:06.9	public health agencies and, of course, the politics around all of that. Will Stone from
1:12.4	NPR's health team is here to help us make sense of all of it. Hey there, Will. Hey there.
1:16.9	I want to start with the news this week that the Health and Human Services Secretary,
1:21.3	RFK Jr., has removed all 17 members of a committee that helps craft vaccine policy. Now, this is not a committee that
1:29.2	we talk about a lot. So what does this committee do? And why did RFK Jr. decide to clean house here?
1:35.9	Sure. This is the advisory committee on immunization practices, ACIP, for short. It's a CDC committee.
1:43.6	It's been around since the 60s, actually, and you're right.
1:46.9	We don't think a lot about them.
	...

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