⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

A dispute over who advises the government on vaccines reaches the First Circuit. In June 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. removed all seventeen members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and began appointing replacements. Known as ACIP, the committee advises the CDC on vaccine recommendations. Medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, sued over changed COVID vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women, and expanded their challenge to the committee's membership. They say the replacement committee violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires fairly balanced membership in light of the committee's perspectives and functions. In March 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts paused thirteen appointments, challenged committee votes, and a separate change to the childhood immunization schedule as preliminary relief in the lawsuit. This appeal challenges the appointment pause, not those other pauses. Matthew Zorn will argue for the government that the court reviewed actions outside the Administrative Procedure Act and imposed an unauthorized remedy.

American Academy of Pediatrics v Kennedy (No. 26-1503) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, argued October 6, 2026.