There has never been so much scrutiny of a federal advisory committee. You’d expect that the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices (ACIP) would be a sleepy, behind-the-scenes set of advisors to the Director of the CDC.
However, ACIP has drawn unprecedented public attention for years.
Attention skyrocketed recently when Judge Murphy made an outrageous decision in March declaring Secretary Kennedy’s appointments “improper” under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), declaring the new member appointments invalid, pausing all their votes, and invalidating the updated CDC vaccine schedule.
The Absurd Pre-Kennedy ACIP & The Brilliant 2026 Charter Renewal
The pre-Kennedy ACIP rubber-stamped every vaccine that made it to the agenda, drawing public ire and outcry. Votes taken on the committee’s CDC recommendations frequently– if not always– yadda-yadda-ed over safety issues.
The 2026 Charter Renewal – the subject of this article – even states the ACIP livestream audience often exceeds 10,000 viewers.
As people say, you either have a good time or a good story. Watching ACIP meetings was never a good time.
I would set aside a day or two to watch ACIP proceedings in full. Team Vaccine Safety always lost. I always took notes and screenshots. Sometimes I would live-blog the dialogue or final recommendations.
Sometimes I would publish on absurdities like Dr. Sara Meyer’s Magical COVID Shot presentation which contended that COVID shots reduced all-cause mortality by 90%. If you jumped off a building, her analysis showed COVID shots would be highly protective.
The December 2025 ACIP meeting was particularly cringe-worthy. Dr. Robert Malone painstakingly battled Kennedy-appointed ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner over a four-sentence change to the Hepatitis B recommendation. Meissner was feigning difficulty understanding that if a mother tests Hepatitis B-negative, a newborn dose was no longer recommended. As a stall tactic to delay the vote until the following day– a strategy my classmates used in 7th grade science class to delay tests– he demanded a printed version of the new language, instead of the on-screen language the committee normally votes on.
Kennedy Took Required Renewal as an Opportunity
Kennedy saw an opportunity this year. Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, any advisory committee is automatically terminated after two years unless it is renewed by filing a Notice of Charter Renewal in the Federal Register.
ACIP came up for renewal this month, and Secretary Kennedy used it to strengthen both the authority of the HHS Secretary and committee procedures.
Today, April 6, 2026, HHS published the 2026 ACIP Charter Renewal in the Federal Register (91 FR 17279). It’s a stark contrast to the brief, rubber-stamp notices from 2022 and 2024.
And it’s brilliant.
Charter Renewal Stresses HHS Secretary Authority, Fairly Balanced Members and Even Improvements to Public Comment
Past renewals were short — just a page or two announcing the two-year extension with minimal details.
The 2026 notice is longer and far more substantive.
It includes an expanded Public Interest Determination section with a detailed budget breakdown, clear membership selection criteria newly stressing “fairly balanced” viewpoints, geographic diversity, and specialties like toxicology and consumer issues, plus explicit confirmation that the HHS Secretary personally selects and appoints members, including the Chair and Vice Chair.
It also summarizes recent accomplishments and future plans.
Notably, in contrast to past ACIP meetings which purported to have balanced public comment regarding vaccines– and which always seemed tilted toward the blindly pro-vaccine/no harms viewpoint– the notice highlights plans to “ensure transparency and opportunity for public comment during deliberations.”
Wow.
Updates to the Charter Itself are Robust and Defensible
The actual ACIP Charter– with amendments approved by Secretary Kennedy– echoes the language in the Charter Renewal, strengthening key areas:
Appointment authority: Explicitly confirms that the HHS Secretary selects and appoints all members, Chair, and Vice Chair with overlapping four-year terms
Balance and expertise: Maintains focus on immunization knowledge while welcoming diverse perspectives on safety, efficacy, and economics
These changes make the framework more robust and defensible without altering ACIP’s core mission.
HHS Playing a Long Game
Since judges do not adjudicate scientific issues, Judge Murphy’s injunction focused on alleged procedural flaws under FACA, not the science of the schedule cuts. It froze the January 2026 vaccine schedule revisions and the reconstituted committee amid lawsuits from medical organizations seeking to preserve the status quo.
This renewal doesn’t instantly dissolve Judge Murphy’s preliminary injunction or let the stayed members convene tomorrow. But HHS is playing the long game: over-delivering on transparency, a balanced committee and public comment while locking in Secretary-led authority.
It’s a clear first step to rebuild a defensible ACIP and restore the changes our kids need.
Parents, this fight continues. The injunction is preliminary, and today’s charter renewal makes it tougher for critics like Judge Murphy to block change on process grounds alone.
Rick Jaffe has already filed an appeal in this case.
Federal Vaccine Schedule Changes Have Zero Effect in California
In California, all the CDC vaccine schedule changes have had zero effect due to AB144, which Newsom signed into law in September 2025. It pins California’s recommended vaccine schedule to 90+ doses of 17 vaccines, including annual COVID shots. Note that the California-required school schedule is 30+ doses of 10 vaccines, not including COVID shots. Also note that pediatricians will never help a parent differentiate between these two schedules, always pushing for the larger schedule.
This is why Free Now Foundation has active cases to make vaccination voluntary again for California students, and expand exemptions while we still have mandates. Recent decisions in the Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit are making our cases more likely to succeed. Stay tuned!
Related ACIP Reporting at Free Now Foundation
https://freenowfoundation.org/articles/outrage-federal-judge-tries-to-reverse-maha-progress/
https://freenowfoundation.org/articles/after-murphy-what-will-hhs-do-now/
In 1996, Ms. Mayer was running a worldwide research group for Apple Inc., when she got 6 vaccines for a vacation and became disabled, brain damaged and lost her career. Now substantially recovered, she is Board Chair & President of Free Now Foundation, the leading medical freedom law non-profit in California.
Ms. Mayer is an in-demand speaker, and her lively presentations on 1/ The Measles Manipulation of RFK Jr., 2/ REAL ID: Weaponized Architecture, 3/ ABV: Anything But Vaccines and 4/ The Legal Howdunit of COVID have earned her recognition and accolades. "I know women in VP positions who do not hold a candle to this woman's sunlight," stated a commenter on a recent interview with Mike Adams, "She gives me hope that humanity still lives."
Ms. Mayer formerly served on the Children's Health Defense (CHD) board, co-founded & served as Chairman of CHD’s most successful Chapter in California, helping raise in excess of $5M, and served on RFK Jr’s Presidential campaign finance committee, raising hundreds of thousands for the campaign.
In 2022, she won the Golden Bear Award and a presentation she gave to Dr. Mercola was named a "Best of" interview. Her favorite award is her "Freedominator" Rock given by Marin Freedom Rising in 2023. Ms. Mayer grew up in the Oscar Mayer family, and has degrees from Duke (BA) and Northwestern (MBA.)
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