President Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to align the core childhood vaccine schedule with “scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries.” The order also preserves “access to vaccines currently available to Americans and that the Federal Government will continue to protect religious freedom and enforce all legal protections for parents.” “President Trump’s new Executive Order on childhood vaccines isn’t really about vaccines. It’s about power: shifting authority from an unaccountable public health bureaucracy back to elected officials accountable to voters,” Children’s Health Defense wrote. “It directs CDC/ACIP to review HHS findings & align recommendations with best practices from other developed nations — reopening debate on timing, safety, & informed consent,” it added. NO MORE MONOPOLY President Trump’s new Executive Order on childhood vaccines isn’t really about vaccines. It’s about power: shifting authority from an unaccountable public health bureaucracy back to elected officials accountable to voters. It directs CDC/ACIP to review HHS… pic.twitter.com/vTE4qk6z71 — Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) May 30, 2026 CBS News shared further: The move comes after Mr. Trump in December issued a memo directing HHS to align U.S. childhood vaccine recommendations with “best practices from peer, developed countries.” In early January, HHS released an assessment that determined the U.S. “recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, and more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations.” Following that assessment, the CDC, which is part of HHS, announced updated recommendations that would reduce the number of recommended immunizations for children from 17 to 11. The move prompted heavy criticism from medical experts and health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, which subsequently chose to release its own childhood vaccine recommendations, breaking significantly with the CDC guidance. Friday’s executive order directs the CDC and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, to review HHS’ January “scientific assessment and the latest clinical data” and “take any appropriate steps to update the United States childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule.” “By signing today’s Executive Order, President Trump is reaffirming his commitment to gold-standard science, ensuring Americans receive the best possible medical advice, and empowering patients and doctors with maximum flexibility,” the White House said in a fact sheet accompanying Friday’s order. “This Executive Order is not about vaccines. It is about power. For decades, a small network of federal agencies, advisory committees, professional societies, and pharmaceutical interests has effectively controlled vaccine policy in America,” Dr. Robert Malone commented. “Trump’s new Executive Order challenges that arrangement directly. The media says this is a vaccine story. They’re wrong. It’s a governance story. And it may permanently change the relationship between the American people and the public health bureaucracy,” he added. “Eventually, the AAP Lawsuit will make the ACIP mostly irrelevant, along with public health administrative state. This is the greatest strategic blunder that the entrenched public health establishment – determined to hold on to its powerful grip over public health, has made in decades,” Malone said. Eventually, the AAP Lawsuit will make the ACIP mostly irrelevant, along with public health administrative state. This is the greatest strategic blunder that the entrenched public health establishment – determined to hold on to its powerful grip over public health, has made in… — Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) May 30, 2026 More from Malone News: The American Academy of Pediatrics lawsuit was never really about measles, polio, hepatitis B, or influenza. It was about process. The plaintiffs argued that the administration had improperly altered federal vaccine recommendations through an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) process that did not comply with long-established legal and administrative requirements. A federal judge appeared sympathetic to that argument and temporarily blocked implementation. The new Executive Order appears designed to sidestep that challenge. Rather than directly imposing a new vaccine schedule, the Executive Order adopts the HHS scientific assessment as a guiding federal resource and directs the CDC and ACIP to review that assessment and update recommendations “to the extent permitted by law.” This is a subtle but important distinction. I have long argued that the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) envisions advisory committees such as ACIP serving precisely that role: advisory. Under FACA, committees are intended to provide advice in response to questions and policy needs identified by executive branch leadership. Over time, however, successive administrations effectively abdicated much of that responsibility, allowing ACIP to evolve into a body that often appeared to set policy rather than merely advise on it. In my view, the proper process is straightforward. The CDC Director, acting under the authority of the Executive Branch, should define the questions to be addressed and the policy objectives to be considered. ACIP should then provide its scientific and technical advice in response. The committee should inform decision-making, not function as an independent center of policymaking. Viewed through that lens, the Executive Order seeks to shift the debate away from the actions of a single advisory committee and back to a fundamental principle of constitutional governance: executive agencies and advisory committees advise, while elected officials establish policy and are accountable to the public for those decisions. Read the executive order HERE.