DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump Campaign Promises Part 5

RFK Jr. removes all 17 members of CDC's vaccine advisory committee

The committee makes recommendations on the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday he is removing all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee and replacing them with new members.

The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines.

"Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda," Kennedy said in a statement. "The public must know that unbiased science -- evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest -- guides the recommendations of our health agencies."

In a press release, HHS said the Biden administration appointed all 17 sitting ACIP members, with 13 of those appointments occurring in 2024.

The appointments meant the Trump administration would have had to wait until 2028 before choosing a majority of committee members, according to Kennedy.

Kennedy said replacing the sitting committee members would help restore public trust.

"A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science," Kennedy's statement continued. "ACIP new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine. The Committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas."

In a separate op-ed written in The Wall Street Journal on Monday announcing the restructuring of ACIP, Kennedy claimed that the committee was plagued by conflicts of interest.

The CDC has published a list of conflicts of interest declarations disclosed by voting members during public meetings since 2000.

Kennedy also wrote that ACIP had never recommended against a vaccine "even those later withdrawn for safety reasons."

In fact, members ACIP have at times recommended a narrower use of a vaccine than what was technically allowed by authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Kennedy had previously claimed he would not touch ACIP. In February Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, who said he had initially struggled with Kennedy's nomination for HHS secretary before voting to confirm him, said Kennedy had promised him no changes would be made to ACIP.

"He has also committed that he would work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring system and not establish parallel systems," Cassidy said at the time in a speech on the Senate floor. "If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes."

In a post on X after the changes were announced Monday, Cassidy said there is a fear the ACIP "will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion. I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case."

Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's independent panel of vaccine advisers, told ABC News he thought the decision Monday was extremely dangerous.

Kennedy "doesn't have a single example to show where a vote by one of these committees has hurt children," Offit said. "In fact, the opposite is true -- the votes by this committee over the last 25 years have caused children to suffer less and die less. ACIP should be given awards, not fired."

Many major health advocacy organizations also pushed back on the move.

“For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a trusted national source of science- and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease … Today’s action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives," said Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. "With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.”

Former CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told ABC News she was "deeply concerned for families trying to navigate how to keep their loved ones healthy and safe," following the move to terminate and replace the members of the committee. "Secretary Kennedy’s unprecedented action spreads confusion and casts doubt on transparent public health processes that protect Americans," said Cohen, who served as the head of the CDC during the Biden administration.

Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC in the Obama administration, said Kennedy's move "should erase any remaining doubt that he intends to impose his personal anti-vaccine agenda on the American people."

Kennedy's announcement on ACIP is the latest in a series of unprecedented moves and a rejection of traditional avenues for making announcements related to vaccines.

Two weeks ago, Kennedy announced in a video posted on X that the COVID-19 vaccine would be removed from the CDC's immunization schedule for "healthy children and pregnant women."

Last week, a CDC official, who co-led a part of ACIP, announced she was resigning following Kennedy's announcement on changing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/rfk-jr-removing-17-members-cdcs-vaccine-advisory/story?id=122670046

Only shows the middle class is continually paying more and more of the lion’s share of the federal receipts.

Fake. Stop it. Inflation is continuing to rise bigly and trumps approval rating continues to plummet.

Kennedy replaces fired US CDC panel members, includes anti-vaccine proponents

Members include some with FDA or CDC committee backgrounds
Some members have expressed anti-vaccine views
Kennedy says they will attend June 25 ACIP meeting

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. named eight members to serve on a key panel of vaccine advisers on Wednesday, including several who have advocated against vaccines, after abruptly firing all 17 members of the independent committee of experts.
They will sit on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which advises the agency on who should get the shots after they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The group of eight - the minimum number allowed by the ACIP founding charter - includes four who have previously worked on committees associated with either the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, or both.

Others have published papers, posted on social media, or written online biographies with anti-vaccine views, including against the mRNA vaccine technology used in some of the newest immunizations such as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Among them is Robert Malone, one of the most prominent voices opposing mRNA vaccines. He is aligned with Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement.

The group also includes Joseph Hibbeln, Martin Kulldorff, Retsef Levi, Cody Meissner, James Pagano, Vicky Pebsworth and Michael Ross.

Kennedy, who has long questioned the safety of vaccines contrary to scientific evidence, alleged that the prior panel members, many of whom were appointed by President Joe Biden, had conflicts of interest, without providing evidence of specific members' conflicts. He said the move was necessary "to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science."

Committee members said their ACIP work follows rigorous vetting of their financial ties and that they must abstain from votes on any vaccine for which they have a conflict.

Kennedy said on X that the panel would attend the committee's June 25 meeting. Advisers had been expected to deliberate and vote on who should receive a number of vaccines, including the flu shot and 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine boosters, and the meeting had been slated for June 25-27. No agenda has been published yet.

Shares of vaccine makers Moderna (MRNA.O), which both produced mRNA COVID vaccines, fell marginally while those of Novavax (NVAX.O), opens new tab, which did not utilize mRNA in its vaccine, rose marginally in after-hours trading.

NEW MEMBERS

It is unclear how new members of the panel have been vetted for conflicts of interest, or when the vetting process began.

Meissner and Pebsworth have served on the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, and Meissner also previously served on ACIP. Pebsworth is now associated with the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that advocates for vaccine exemptions and educates about vaccine injury.

Kulldorff is an architect of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for a lighter public health response to COVID-19 in October 2020, and previously served on an ACIP vaccine safety subgroup.

Levi has in the past said mRNA vaccines can cause serious harm and death, especially among children, and called for their immediate withdrawal.

Ross, a professor at George Washington University, is an operating partner of Havencrest Capital Management, a firm focused on healthcare investments, according to its website.

The FDA has found that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are generally safe and effective, but Commissioner Marty Makary has questioned the benefit of repeated annual shots for healthy, younger Americans.
https://www.reuters.com/business/he...s-vaccine-advisory-committee-2025-06-11/

Senate Democrats seek answers on Trump's World Liberty crypto deal ahead of GENIUS Act vote

A war of words is escalating between Senate Democrats and executives at the crypto firm that is partly owned by President Trump's family, as congressional leaders seek more information about ways in which the first family may be seeking to blend profit with official government action, CBS News has learned.

In an exchange of polite but pointed letters, Senate Democrats demanded more details about a multibillion-dollar transaction between the Trump family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, and a pool of investors that includes foreign nationals. And the senators questioned the firm on its launch of a "stablecoin," a crypto product backed directly by U.S. currency.

"The launch of a stablecoin directly tied to a sitting President who stands to benefit financially from the stablecoin's success is an unprecedented conflict of interest presenting significant threats to both our financial system and our democracy," Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon write in the June 10 letter.

The increased attention comes as the Senate is set to vote on the GENIUS Act, which would adopt a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins, which are pegged to a certain value — typically the U.S. dollar — are designed to be less volatile than other crypto products. This makes it an attractive asset for users who want to move between cryptocurrencies more efficiently.

Warren and Merkley requested financial records related to the $2 billion investment in World Liberty made by MGX, an Emirati firm, and the involvement in the business deal by Binance, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, controlled by a Singaporian national.

The letter is addressed to the CEOs of Binance and MGX, and it asks these firms to preserve communications between Binance officials, MGX, World Liberty Financial, the White House and other U.S. federal government agencies. It also requests communications between specific individuals including President Trump, his sons Barron, Eric and Donald Jr.; Zack and Alex Witkoff, co-founders of World Liberty Financial, and their father Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy to the Middle East.

The senators' request is in response to a letter sent by World Liberty on May 29, in which the company's lawyers dispute allegations that MGX's $2 billion investment into Binance through World Liberty Financial improperly benefits the Trump family.

"What the Company rejects is the suggestion that legitimate financial innovation—especially innovation that strengthens U.S. competitiveness—should be treated with suspicion simply because it succeeds," says the letter from World Liberty's lawyers, reviewed by CBS News.

CBS News reached out to the White House for comment about potential conflict of interest but did not hear back at the time of publication.

Trump family's business interests in crypto

In the last six months, the Trump family has rolled out a series of announcements related to its business interests in crypto.

In the fall of 2024, the Trumps announced World Liberty Financial, a crypto exchange that says on its website it was "inspired" by Mr. Trump, who is listed as "chief Crypto Advocate," while his three sons are listed as "Web3 Ambassadors."

Months later, they announced both the $TRUMP coin and $MELANIA coin, crypto tokens known as "meme coins," whose value is largely driven by social media buzz. This type of cryptocurrency is not usually used in transactions and is known for erratic price shifts. $TRUMP peaked at around $75 shortly after launch and plummeted to under $8 by April 2025 before rebounding a bit to about $11.

Both crypto ventures have been financially beneficial to the president's family, which receives a share of transaction fees, regardless of how the currency is valued.

The fine print on the World Liberty Financial's website says an entity affiliated with Mr. Trump and his family members own a 60% stake in the company. According to the company's public reports, a Trump family entity "DT Marks DEFI LLC" also holds 22.5 billion of the $WLF tokens and takes an additional 75% in net revenue from future token purchases.

On May 23, the president hosted a gala dinner for the top holders of his $TRUMP coin, where attendees spent an average of $1 million a person to mingle with Mr. Trump at his Virginia golf course. Data from analytics firm Chainalysis shows that entities connected to Mr. Trump and other backers collected more than $300 million in transaction fees related to $TRUMP coin in the lead-up to the dinner.

In April, World Liberty Financial launched a new stablecoin product called "USD1," which is backed by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents. MGX agreed to purchase $2 billion worth of this currency to finance a deal with Binance.

"Why — beyond the obvious benefit of gaining favor, directly or indirectly, with the Trump Administration — did you select USD1, a newly-launched, untested cryptocurrency with a no track record?" Senators Warren and Merkley ask in their letter to the MGX and Binance CEOs.

World Liberty Financial has maintained that stablecoins, including their USD1 product, help bolster the strength of the dollar.

"[USD1] is a stablecoin designed to assist in modernizing global access to the U.S. dollar and to enhance American monetary leadership by helping preserve the U.S. dollar's role as the world's reserve currency at a time when rival currencies and closed financial systems are gaining ground," the company said in its May 29 letter.

The company's letter states that if the MGX deal had not been conducted in USD1, it would have been settled in a foreign currency, most likely UAE dirhams. Instead, it argues, keeping transactions in USD1 reinforces demand for the dollar.

"Absent USD1, that capital would have exited the U.S. financial sphere entirely and moved offshore," says the letter.

But Warren and Merkley say the deal raises questions about potential efforts to curry favor with the president's family.

The Senate is set to vote on the GENIUS Act today. If adopted, it would allow the federal government to issue licenses for stablecoin issuers and require those products to be backed by U.S. dollars or other cash equivalents.

Supporters of the bill say it's a critical moment to introduce federal regulation over an increasingly popular investment tool.

But critics like Warren say the bill does not go far enough to strengthen oversight over an industry that the president's family benefits from directly.

"A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the President's corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection is worse than no bill at all." she said in a Senate floor debate on May 19.

In May, Senate Democrats pushed to include an amendment that would specifically prevent a sitting president and his family from making money from stablecoin products. Ultimately, this amendment was not included and the bill advanced by a vote of 66 in favor and 22 opposed, with 16 Democrats joining Republicans to support it.

Proponents of the bill aim to have it on the president's desk by July.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-democrats-trump-world-liberty-crypto-deal-genius-act-vote/

Thoughts, anyone? Mine are that I'm glad they pulled it out, while sad such a provision was even introduced.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...ad534634ba4c20b78a35522d96b6bb&ei=19

Senate Republicans slashed language from the House version of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" that would have given him the powers of a monarch who could simply bypass the courts if they tried to stop him from pursuing his policy ambitions, according to a report in HuffPost.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released his committee's changes to the judicial section late Thursday night. Notably absent was a "jarring, one-sentence provision that House Republicans buried in their 1,116-page bill," according to HuffPost.

The provision in question "would restrict the ability of any court, including the Supreme Court, to enforce compliance with its orders by holding people in contempt."

Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.

The one-sentence provision appears in Sec. 70302 "Restriction of Funds," and reads, "No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued..."

According to HuffPost, "Contempt citations are an essential tool for the courts" because "they allow judges to threaten fines, sanctions or even jail if people disobey their orders."

Without contempt citations, the courts could simply be ignored.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost that the contempt provision Republicans slipped into the massive spending bill was "a naked attempt to shield members of the Trump administration from court orders," essentially allowing them to operate with impunity, much like royalty.

"Not only does this provision appear to violate the constitutional separation of powers, it also violates Senate rules," wrote reporter Jennifer Bendery. "Republicans are relying on a fast-track legislative process known as budget reconciliation to move the bill, which means everything in it must be related to budget matters. Restricting judges’ abilities to hand down contempt orders has nothing to do with budgets."

We always get crickets from the right when its obvious trump is breaking the law.

To his credit, it was Grassley who pulled it out. That does, however, eliminate the counter argument that this is some “lib” overreaction.

Trying to rewrite the constitution via a budget bill is something I would have suspected. Grassley stopping it is something is something I wouldn't have expected. So I'll give him credit for that.

It won't stop the uninformed from believing it was a plot by Biden and Obama!