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New PPI Report Details RFK Jr.’s Record of Breaking Health Promises

• May 28, 2026
• Alix Ware

WASHINGTON (May 28, 2026) — The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released a new report today documenting how Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dismantled scientific safeguards and broken commitments to Congress, undermining legitimate efforts to improve America’s public health.

“Curing MAHA: How to Protect Public Health After Kennedy,” authored by PPI’s Director of Health Care Policy Alix Ware, reveals how, instead of creating a credible public health initiative, Kennedy has exploited the fears of Make America Healthy Again supporters to advance discredited medical theories and consolidate power without oversight.

Kennedy promised Republican senators during his confirmation hearing that he would respect the government’s existing vaccine safety system and follow accepted science. Instead, the report documents how he has systematically removed scientific experts from key agencies, defunded critical medical research, and altered health guidance based on unfounded claims about autism, all while cutting nearly a quarter of the HHS workforce.

The damage extends across three critical areas:

• Kennedy endorsed the reckless decimation of federal health agencies, eliminating staff who collect and analyze national health data and ethics professionals.
• Kennedy has divorced health guidance from science, peddling long-debunked theories about vaccines and autism that have already influenced medication use among pregnant women.
• Kennedy has removed oversight mechanisms designed to ensure agency decisions rest on evidence rather than ideology, firing the CDC director who resisted his demands and stacking federal advisory committees with vaccine skeptics.

“Many Americans have legitimate concerns about our health system that deserve serious attention,” said Ware. “But Kennedy’s approach has squandered an opportunity to address them. He promised to follow gold standard science and instead has weaponized federal health agencies to serve his personal beliefs.”

Even supporters of MAHA’s original goals are disappointed. Polling shows 47% of voters who backed the movement say the administration has not done enough to make America healthy again. Kennedy’s actions have eroded public trust in federal health guidance: confidence in the CDC’s vaccine schedule has fallen from 71% to 61% in under a year.

The report recommends that Congress take four steps to repair the damage and prevent similar abuses in the future:

1. Increase transparency and accountability of federal advisory committees to ensure decisions are based on scientific evidence.
2. Modernize the federal workforce while rebuilding trust with career employees so that skilled scientists and health professionals are not afraid to work in government.
3. Limit the use of acting officials to prevent political appointees from bypassing Senate confirmation and accountability.
4. Develop a long-term, non-partisan plan to address chronic disease grounded in evidence and expertise rather than shifting with each administration.

Read and download the report here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @ppi.

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org