August 7, 2025
At the O’Neill Institute, our mission is to build fairer systems, uphold human rights, and protect the health of every community. This commitment is rooted in our Jesuit values at Georgetown University, which call us to embrace change while staying true to core principles of engaging intellect, fostering ethical and spiritual growth, exchanging ideas freely, and striving for a more just world.
We are alarmed by the Trump administration’s termination of key health advisory committees, including the Advisory Committee on Long COVID and the Health Equity Advisory Committee for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as the decision to completely reconstitute bodies like the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which provides critical recommendations to the CDC on vaccine safety and efficacy. Scientific members of the CDC Director’s Advisory Committee were also recently terminated. It is now reported that the Secretary may reconstitute the US Preventive Services Task Force which makes statutory recommendations on clinical screening and interventions that save lives.
These threats have already hit close to home. Our own Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, the world’s most cited health law scholar, was recently terminated from the NIH Fogarty International Center Advisory Board. Prof Gostin has been writing and advocating for the importance of science and public health, especially for the importance of childhood and adult vaccinations.
The dismantling, restructuring, or indefinite suspension of advisory bodies simply because they do not align with the Trump administration’s priorities is troubling. It silences expert voices and jeopardizes public trust in our government’s ability to safeguard health.
Weakening these advisory committees threatens progress on critical health issues. It also risks worsening health outcomes for millions of Americans and people around the world, who will no longer have access to critical recommendations on research, treatment, and intervention. Such actions run counter to the rule of law, the First Amendment, and inspiring ideals of the constitution.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the O’Neill Institute.