Health Care

RFK Jr. fires 2 leaders of preventive services task force

Comments:

by Nathaniel Weixel - 05/20/26 3:42 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Nathaniel Weixel - 05/20/26 3:42 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has fired two of the leaders of an influential panel that determines which preventive medical services insurers must cover for free.

Kennedy dismissed vice chairs John Wong and Esa Davis from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on May 11, according to letters seen by The Hill.

Kennedy wrote in respective letters that he terminated the two leaders after conducting a “review of current USPSTF appointments.” Kennedy wrote the review was undertaken in part “to protect the integrity of the Task Force’s work,” and that Wong and Davis were terminated “effective immediately.”

“This action is administrative in nature and is unrelated to your performance or many years of dedicated service to the Task Force,” the letters stated. “It is not to be understood as a removal based on your leadership or contributions. To the contrary, the Department is taking this step to help protect the Task Force and preserve confidence in the continuity and durability of its work.”

Kennedy has repeatedly criticized the task force, which historically has been shielded from political influence. The panel is composed of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis.

The task force reviews reams of scientific evidence to make recommendations on services such as cancer screenings, HIV prevention medications and more. It makes its recommendations using a grading scale, and ObamaCare requires insurers to cover services the task force recommends with a “grade” of A or B at no cost to patients.

An Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman confirmed the firings and referred to the letters.

The task force typically meets three times a year, but Kennedy indefinitely postponed its last three meetings. It hasn’t convened since March of last year.

Kennedy told lawmakers last month that he planned to reform the panel because it had “been lackadaisical and negligent for 20 years.”

“We’re now bringing new members on who have a clear mission,” Kennedy said.

The dismissal of Wong and Davis leaves the panel with just eight sitting members out of 16. Five other members saw their terms expire at the start of this year, and Kennedy has not appointed replacements.

In April, Kennedy solicited nominations for the open positions.

Kennedy invited Davis and Wong to reapply. “Your continued participation would be highly valued,” he wrote.

Public health experts and advocates have expressed concern for the past year that Kennedy would fire the entire task force and stack it with members ideologically aligned with himself, like he did with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine panel.

Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy has the power to hire and dismiss panelists at will, as well as to delay or veto the recommendations they issue if he disagrees with them — something no prior administration has done.

In emails seen by The Hill, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Director Roger Klein cited that decision — Kennedy v. Braidwood — as reason for the firings.

“The Secretary’s decision reflects his exercise of appointment and supervisory authority over the USPSTF” which the Supreme Court affirmed, Klein wrote.

“One distinction worth drawing clearly: the institutional questions the Secretary has identified go to the circumstances of the appointments themselves, not to the quality or value of your service. Those are separate matters, and the Department’s respect for your many contributions is genuine,” Klein added.

Wong and Davis did not respond to requests for comment.

In another email seen by The Hill sent May 14, Wong and Davis stated they still had time left on their terms; 10 months for Wong, and 22 months for Davis.

They questioned where in the Braidwood decision it stated that Kennedy was allowed to retroactively invalidate appointments made by a previous HHS secretary or AHRQ director.

Kennedy’s termination letters “neither state nor imply that our original appointments were somehow unlawful or inappropriate,” Wong and Davis wrote.

Klein responded the same day, writing that their questions “implicate legal and policy judgments that it would not be appropriate for me to address in external correspondence.”

He reiterated that Braidwood gave Kennedy the discretion to remove panelists as he sees fit.

“The Department’s goal throughout has been to protect the integrity and continuity of the Task Force’s mission,” Klein wrote.

Wong and Davis wrote they would consider reapplying