RFK Jr. fires leaders of group that sets guidelines for preventive
health screenings
[May 21, 2026]
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired the two leaders of
an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide
free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of
Americans.
In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notified
the two doctors who chaired the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that
he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of
their multiyear terms.
The Department of Health and Human Services already had largely
sidelined the task force, indefinitely postponing scheduled public
meetings over the past year and thus leaving some long-expected updates
on cervical cancer screenings and other topics in limbo.
The panel, first created in the 1980s, is composed of experts who
scrutinize the latest evidence behind a wide array of disease prevention
tools, such as depression screenings ad the use of statins to prevent
heart attacks. The panel updates guidelines with letter grades showing
the strength of the science. Under the Affordable Care Act, most
insurance plans must cover preventive services given an “A” or “B” grade
without requiring a co-pay.
Kennedy’s letters don’t make clear why he ousted Drs. John Wong and Esa
Davis from the panel. He wrote that their “leadership, contributions and
expertise” have advanced the task force’s work “to improve the health of
Americans” and encouraged them to reapply. He said he was reviewing task
force appointments “to ensure clarity, continuity and confidence” in HHS
oversight.
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 The letters were first reported by
The New York Times. An HHS spokesman didn’t respond to questions
about why the two were fired.
Kennedy told lawmakers last month that he was reforming the task
force, calling it “lackadaisical,” so that it would meet more
frequently and “have, for the first time, transparency.” The panel
holds public meetings, opens its draft guidelines to public comment
before finalizing them, and publishes the scientific evidence behind
them.
Some health advocates had worried that Kennedy was preparing to
replace the expert panel with less experienced political appointees,
like he had done with a critical vaccine advisory committee. Over
the past year, the task force wasn’t allowed to publish its final
update to the cervical cancer screening guideline or take steps to
update recommendations about maternal depression, said former task
force chairman Dr. Michael Silverstein, a pediatrician.
“This is a level of government intrusion into scientific processes
that I’ve not experienced in my 10 years on the task force,” he
said.
The panel has staggered terms so that normally health secretaries
can regularly appoint new members, making their mark on the task
force without upending it, said Aaron Carroll of the nonpartisan
healthy policy group AcademyHealth.
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