States sue Trump administration over changes to childhood vaccine
recommendations
[February 25, 2026]
By SOPHIE AUSTIN
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — More than a dozen states sued the Trump
administration Tuesday over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for
children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health.
The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put
children's lives at risk when it announced last month that it would stop
recommending all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus,
hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Under the
new guidance, which was met with criticism from medical experts,
protections against those diseases are recommended only for certain
groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called
“shared decision-making.”
The new vaccine recommendations ignore long-standing medical guidance
and will make states have to spend more to protect against outbreaks,
the states, including Arizona and California, said.
“The health and safety of children across the country is not a political
issue,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said at a news
conference. “It is not a culture war talking point.”
Emily G. Hilliard, press secretary for the Department of Health and
Human Services, blasted the complaint as a “publicity stunt dressed up
as a lawsuit.”
The lawsuit escalates an ongoing battle between Democratic-led states
and Republican President Donald Trump's administration over the federal
government's changes to public health policy under Health Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of
workers at federal public health agencies, cut funding for scientific
research and altered government guidance on fluoride and other topics.
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Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes speaks to reporters as Oregon
Attorney General Dan Rayfield listens outside the Supreme Court, on
Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
 Kennedy last year ousted every
member of a vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with his
own picks, which Tuesday's complaint alleges was unlawful.
The lawsuit comes months after the Democratic governors of
California, Washington state and Oregon launched an alliance to
establish their own vaccine recommendations. The governors said the
Trump administration was risking people's health by politicizing the
CDC.
States, not the federal government, have the authority to require
vaccinations for schoolchildren, though the CDC's requirements
typically influence state regulations.
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