Internal emails show how RFK Jr.'s team sought to sway the CDC

A trove of newly released internal emails offers a new look at how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention navigated some of the most controversial public health decisions of President Trump's second term — and, at times, chafed at pressure from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team. The emails span from the administration's early days — when HHS sought to shut down a flu vaccine advertising campaign — to the dramatic firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez last August. They were formally released Thursday , Education, Labor and Pensions, which said it obtained them from Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC's former chief medical officer who resigned after Monarez was ousted. The committee's ranking member, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, argued the emails show Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, "prioritized politics over public health, ignored expert guidance, and endangered people, particularly children." CBS News has reached out to HHS for comment. Request to pull flu vaccine ads "came directly from" RFK Jr. In mid-February 2025, during flu season, then-CDC communications official Nicole Coffin told colleagues in an email that HHS communications chief Andrew Nixon "asked that we pull out of circulation all campaign ad buys related to flu or anything encouraging shots or vaccinations."  The request "came directly from the Secretary," Coffin said she was told, adding that the plan was to focus on "informed consent," or messaging that informs patients of risks and benefits. Another CDC official then looped in Monarez and Houry and warned of possible consequences. "Given that this is the worst flu season in years, halting a campaign currently in the field presents significant reputational risk to the agency," he wrote in an email. "There are also likely legal issues with contracts/appropriated funding." On a separate email chain, Coffin asked Nixon if she could share the CDC's flu shot-related ad campaigns with him so the agency could understand what needed to change. Nixon responded that he was happy to take a look, but "this was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy." Several days later, Coffin said HHS had "instructed we immediately pause" a pro-vaccination ad campaign called "Wild to Mild." Another campaign known as "Get My Flu Shot" would remain. RFK's move to replace members of vaccine panel: "He doesn't care which members" A few months into his tenure, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which makes vaccine recommendations for the nation.