NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 racked up win after win for the longtime anti-vaccine crusader鈥檚 allies.
Activists in the 鈥渕edical freedom鈥� movement were thrilled to see Kennedy of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, among the replacements, and dramatically 鈥� to the horror of pediatricians across the country.
But now, with a single temporary Monday from a federal judge in Boston, the momentum Kennedy had reached through those actions has been abruptly halted.
The development disrupts Kennedy鈥檚 push to remake vaccine policy at a key political moment, when the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had appeared to be moving beyond vaccine efforts and toward a less contentious agenda on healthy food ahead of November鈥檚 midterm elections.
It remains to be seen whether the ruling will energize Kennedy鈥檚 supporters to fight back, provide cover for the administration to more firmly leave vaccines in the past, or both.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement that the department 鈥渓ooks forward to this judge鈥檚 decision being overturned.鈥� Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration would appeal and noted that another of the judge鈥檚 rulings, on immigrant deportations, was lifted by a federal appeals court on Monday.
鈥淗ow many times can Judge Murphy get reversed in one year?鈥� Blanche wrote on X. 鈥淲e will keep appealing these lawless decisions, and we will keep winning. The question is, how much embarrassment can this Judge take?鈥�
Judge鈥檚 ruling sharply rebukes Kennedy鈥檚 approach
After Kennedy dropped his own independent presidential bid and threw his support behind Trump two years ago, Trump vowed to reward Kennedy by letting him 鈥済o wild鈥� on health, food and medicine.
The health secretary has done just that, including moving at a blistering pace last year to overhaul public health guidance and revamp long-held precedents in vaccine policymaking.
Judge Brian Murphy said in Monday鈥檚 order that Kennedy disregarded certain long-held government processes, including reconstituting a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, in a way that likely violated federal law.
鈥淭here is a method to how these decisions historically have been made 鈥� a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements,鈥� Murphy wrote. 鈥淯nfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.鈥�
Mark Gorton, president of the Kennedy-aligned MAHA Institute, said the judge was misguided in viewing the HHS bureaucratic process before Kennedy as 鈥渟ome sort of ideal.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檝e had all sorts of ACIP decisions for decades, and you never had a judge standing up and saying that his judgment is superior to that of the panelists, even though the ACIP members for years have been incredibly corrupt and incredibly conflicted,鈥� Gorton said.
Kennedy鈥檚 allies say a 鈥榬ogue鈥� judge could reinvigorate their movement
Dr. Robert Malone, one of Kennedy鈥檚 appointees on the vaccine advisory committee, accused Murphy of being a 鈥渞ogue鈥� judge and called for his impeachment.
He urged the Trump administration to keep pursuing Kennedy鈥檚 vaccine policy changes, writing on Substack that the temporary ruling 鈥渋s a delay, not a defeat.鈥�
For at least one Kennedy ally, the ruling is an opportunity. Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the nonprofit Brownstone Institute who has rallied support behind Kennedy, said he sees it as a 鈥渃larifying moment鈥� that will bring MAHA activists together after some and infighting.
鈥淚t makes the battle lines really, really obvious to everybody,鈥� Tucker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for moral courage, strategic intelligence and doubling down in dedication to the agenda of medical freedom above all else.鈥�
The ruling could give the administration cover to leave unpopular policies in the past
But the decision also comes at a time when Republican pollsters have warned that Kennedy鈥檚 vaccine stances could be a liability in the midterms 鈥� and when the White House and HHS had been moving on to less contentious pursuits.
Earlier this week, a White House official who requested anonymity to freely discuss the administration鈥檚 thinking said Kennedy had already achieved much of what he had set out to do on vaccines, and the administration was doubling down on food this year.
A White House spokesperson didn鈥檛 immediately respond to an inquiry Tuesday about how the ruling will affect that approach.
Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University, said the judge鈥檚 ruling happened as the administration already understood that 鈥淜ennedy had gotten them into a very bad place.鈥�
鈥淚 think it hopefully will toughen their resolve to keep getting vaccines off the agenda for now,鈥� she said.
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