Federal health officials have yanked millions in grants from one of their most outspoken critics, and the American Academy of Pediatrics says kids will pay the price. The Department of Health and Human Services this week canceled seven grants to the AAP worth an estimated $18 million, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Post. The money had funded programs on issues such as sudden infant death, adolescent health, rural care access, birth defects, early autism detection, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. AAP CEO Mark Del Monte said the sudden cutoff would "directly impact and potentially harm" children and families, adding that the group is weighing a legal challenge.
Administration officials say the grants were scrapped because the projects no longer match the department's priorities. Termination letters cited the academy's use of "identity-based language"—including references to "pregnant and postpartum people," racism- and poverty-related health disparities, and commitments to "diverse perspectives"—as out of step with current CDC and HHS direction. One Health Resources and Services Administration termination letter said a youth health grant didn't sufficiently emphasize nutrition and chronic-disease prevention. Internal emails show senior political appointees at the HHS and CDC pushing staff to cancel the awards swiftly.
The move comes amid an escalating feud between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the AAP over vaccines. The academy has accused Kennedy of sidelining scientific advisers, dismantling the CDC's independent vaccine panel, and weakening trust in immunizations. It has pushed back by making its own vaccination recommendations, reports the AP. The group has also criticized Kennedy's promotion of leucovorin, a form of vitamin B9, for regular use with kids with autism, noting a lack of evidence on its benefits and risks, per Reuters.
Kennedy has responded by highlighting AAP's funding from pharmaceutical companies and suggesting its COVID vaccine guidance for children may serve "Big Pharma benefactors," per the Post. The AAP and other medical groups are already suing the HHS and Kennedy, arguing his changes to federal coronavirus vaccine policy breached the law and asking a court to reconstitute the panel of vaccine advisers. A former senior CDC official warned that cutting off groups like the AAP risks undermining the public health network that connects scientific evidence to everyday medical practice.
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