WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is pressing White House and health officials to advance an executive order targeting the childhood vaccine schedule and autism research, even as political advisers warn the move could damage Republicans in November's midterm elections.
The proposed order would address the number of recommended childhood vaccines and the scope of autism investigations. Details and timing remain unsettled, but the deliberations reflect Trump's sustained push on an issue his own party's strategists want buried before Election Day.
Trump has repeatedly urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to prioritize greater scrutiny of vaccines. Kennedy, a vocal anti-vaccine activist before joining the Cabinet, vowed last year to expand government research into autism and its potential links to vaccines.
Kennedy's early 2025 efforts to overhaul the government's vaccine approach and recommend fewer shots for children drew sharp opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and broad voter anger. That blowback prompted other Trump officials to push HHS toward mainstream health policy priorities — drug pricing and health insurance — to avoid alienating voters ahead of the midterms.
Trump has continued to press for action behind the scenes, with a specific focus on autism investigations. He has suggested a connection between vaccines and autism on multiple occasions, a link extensive scientific research has not supported.
He has also argued that the childhood vaccine schedule should be reduced. In a May interview with Sharyl Attkisson, Trump said, "I believe in vaccines, but I don't believe that, you know, you have to have a mandate for all of them. I really feel that vaccines, if they were given in smaller quantities — they want to cut some out, and that's good, too. I agree with that."
Kennedy's autism research push has moved slowly since he took office, frustrating White House and health officials who want results the administration can point to.
The potential executive order follows an earlier HHS effort in January to scale back the number of recommended childhood vaccines, which also called for spacing out shots into separate medical visits.
The prospect of a new order w and The Washington Post. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Public health experts broadly oppose altering vaccine schedules without scientific justification, putting the administration at odds with established medical consensus. The pharmaceutical industry, a major donor to both parties, has maintained strong opposition to changes that could reduce vaccine usage.
The internal fight lays bare a direct conflict between Trump's policy instincts and his party's campaign imperatives. No final decision on the order's scope or timing has been made.
