Tag
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the primary U.S. public health agency. Incidents involve political interference with CDC guidance, suppression of disease data, and dismantlement of disease surveillance and response capabilities.
4 incidents
Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power
During the worst U.S. measles year in decades, the federal health secretary publicly questioned whether a state's reported measles deaths were real, and the CDC excluded them from its national count and changed how it counts measles deaths -- a gap a Johns Hopkins expert said 'looks like either incompetence or concealment.'
Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation
RFK Jr.'s dismantlement of federal health agencies during an active measles crisis — including firing vaccine advisors, cutting thousands of positions, and clawing back billions — coincided with the worst measles outbreak in 30+ years, which began in January 2025 before his confirmation, and degraded the federal response while America's measles-elimination status is threatened.
Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power
The Washington Post and New York Times documented a pattern of White House interference with CDC scientific publications. CDC reports in the MMWR — the agency's flagship peer-reviewed publication that had never previously been subject to political review — were reviewed and in some cases altered by Michael Caputo, a political appointee installed at HHS with no public health credentials. Caputo was later placed on leave after a Facebook video in which he accused CDC scientists of a 'resistance unit' against Trump. CDC Director Redfield testified that CDC school reopening guidance was replaced after Trump tweeted that it was 'very tough and expensive.' The FDA's hydroxychloroquine EUA and convalescent plasma approval were both accompanied by documented political pressure.
Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
The administration used a COVID-19 public-health order to close the southern border to asylum seekers, expelling hundreds of thousands of people with no protection screening. Top CDC scientists said there was no public-health basis for it. Human Rights Watch found it violated the US obligation not to return people to persecution or torture.