{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-releases-internal-hhs-emails-demonstrating-secretary-kennedys-politicization-of-cdc-interference-with-vaccines/", "NEWS: Sanders Releases\u00a0Internal HHS Emails Demonstrating Secretary Kennedy\u2019s Politicization of CDC, Interference with Vaccines", "2026-06-25", "2026", "2026-06", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, June 25 \u2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released internal emails from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showing Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr.\u2019s politicization of HHS, willingness to ignore vaccine science and undermine the basic health and safety of Americans.\n\nThe emails, provided to the committee by former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry, include the following revelations:\n\nSecretary Kennedy altered vaccine recommendations and released material to the public without CDC expert review or input.\n\nSecretary Kennedy specifically directed the agenda of the CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory panel, known as ACIP, towards restricting access to vaccines.\n\nSecretary Kennedy directed the cancellation of flu vaccine campaigns amid a severe flu season. Andrew Nixon, HHS Director of Communications, confirmed in an email that \u201cThis was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.\u201d\n\nSecretary Kennedy handpicked researchers to access confidential data to demonstrate the long-disproven claim that vaccines cause autism.\n\nSecretary Kennedy misled members of Congress on several occasions, including in interactions with Senator Hassan on COVID vaccine recommendations, Senator Wyden on vaccine access and HELP Committee Chair Cassidy on the CDC Director\u2019s ability to act independently.\n\nSecretary Kennedy\u2019s chief of staff told then-CDC Director Susan Monarez that political staff at CDC and HHS would need to review \u201cmajor decisions at CDC\u2026before they go into effect.\u201d Less than a week later, Secretary Kennedy fired Director Monarez for failing to rubber stamp recommendations from ACIP.\n\nSecretary Kennedy\u2019s senior advisor sought advice on how to remove vaccines from the Vaccines for Children program, which provides vaccines at no cost to eligible children. In an email, he asked, \u201cWhat legally needs to happen or should be considered if a vaccine is going to be removed from the [Vaccines for Children] program at CDC?\u201d The Vaccines for Children program is estimated to have prevented about 508 million illnesses in children born during 1994 through 2023.", 1, "2026-06-26T06:29:35Z", "2026-06-26T06:31:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-releases-internal-hhs-emails-demonstrating-secretary-kennedys-politicization-of-cdc-interference-with-vaccines/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7070616595447063, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}