Trump is dismantling public health, one executive order at a time

On Monday, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., standing aside, President Trump issued an executive order that overhauls and weakens decades-old childhood vaccination schedules.  

The announcement was followed by waves of protest from the medical community, and some in Congress. But this is merely another example of the Trump administration supplanting scientific community and expert consensus, to the detriment of our nation’s health.   

The Trump administration has used the executive order process as an end run around Congress to implement policies that are typically its domain. Trump has issued more than 220 executive orders since his most recent inauguration. The latest order on child vaccines is another example of the “I’ll do it my way” philosophy.

First, ignoring towering medical community objections, the Trump administration attempted to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule by appointing people with anti-vaccine views to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Lawsuits brought by medical organizations against Kennedy found that the Trump administration actions were unlawful, and that any recommendations made by the newly constituted panel — including changing the vaccine schedule — had to be vacated.

Rather than listening to recognized experts and the law, Trump issued an executive order that will cause vaccination rates to fall. But mandatory vaccination is an important American value. The majority of Republicans and Democrats — including those in favor of the Make America Healthy Again initiative — support required childhood vaccinations before kindergarten. 

Seemingly blind to current events, this executive order also comes at a time when our........

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