Attorney General Mayes Leads Multistate Lawsuit Challenging the Kennedy Vaccine Schedule and Unlawful Overhaul of Federal Childhood Immunization Policy

Complaint alleges RFK Jr. and CDC bypassed federal law, ignored scientific evidence, and endangered children by gutting recommended childhood vaccines

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes today led a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's radical overhaul of the nation's childhood immunization schedule. The complaint, filed today, 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 lawsuit challenges a January 5, 2026 CDC "Decision Memo" that stripped seven childhood vaccines—those protecting against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, 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), the expert federal panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.

"For decades, the CDC's childhood immunization schedule has been grounded in rigorous scientific evidence and has saved millions of lives," said Attorney General Mayes. "Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration have thrown that science out the window. They fired qualified experts, replaced them with unqualified ideologues, and then concocted a dangerous new vaccine schedule that will put Arizona's children—and children across the country—at risk of contracting diseases that are preventable."

According to the 2024 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers have estimated that among children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2023, 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 by leading medical scholars and public health experts who have served on ACIP and established the science-based childhood vaccination schedule that federal agencies, states, and parents have confidently relied on for decades.

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 views aligned with Secretary Kennedy's well-documented opposition to vaccines.

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 percent 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.

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. Instead, it relied primarily on superficial comparisons to purported "peer countries"—particularly Denmark—while ignoring the fundamental differences between those nations and the United States, as well as the overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule. 

Additionally, in contrast to countries like Denmark with universal healthcare, more than 100 million Americans lack usual access to primary care, making the instruction to "discuss vaccines with your clinician" essentially meaningless.

Lower vaccination rates will in turn lead directly to higher rates of infectious disease. For Arizona and other states, this means a greater strain on their Medicaid programs and public health systems, more time and money spent combating outbreaks and misinformation, and wasted resources decoupling state laws, regulations, and public guidance from ACIP’s and CDC’s now-untrustworthy recommendations.

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

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.

Co-leading this lawsuit with Attorney General Mayes is California Attorney General Rob Bonta. They are joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.

A copy of the complaint will be available here.