Tracker
The Administration
Since 2024, autism causation has moved from the margins to the center of federal health policy. This is a dated ledger of the concrete actions, from reports and contracts to funding and personnel, each linked to its source. It is updated as the record grows.
- September 2026
Trump proposes splitting childhood vaccines into five smaller doses
Standing with Secretary Kennedy on September 18, the President announces a plan to recommend certain childhood vaccines be given as five separate doses, each about a fifth of the standard amount, six months apart. It is a statement of intent, not a rule. The First Circuit hears the schedule appeal on October 6, 2026.
The White House - September 2026
NIH finalizes the $51M Autism Data Science Initiative
The NIH commits roughly $51 million across 13 projects studying autism causes and prevalence from existing datasets. None of the 13 awards examine vaccines; the vaccine question sits with the separate CDC no-bid contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which has released no findings as of late September 2026.
National Institutes of Health - September 2026
McCullough Foundation epidemiologist testifies to Michigan House on vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated data
Nicolas Hulscher testifies before the Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on the Child Welfare System, presenting a reanalysis of Henry Ford Health data that he says shows a 180% higher autism rate in vaccinated children. Independent researchers dispute the methodology; the mainstream consensus finds no causal link.
Michigan House of Representatives - August 2026
Executive Order 14420 sets the childhood schedule at 11 diseases
Signed August 10, 2026, “Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans” limits routine childhood immunizations to 11 diseases (from 18), directs HHS to plan for MMR as three separate shots once domestically available, and encourages separate visits for each vaccine.
The White House, Presidential Actions - March 2026
Federal court stays the 2026 schedule and post-June 2025 ACIP votes
A U.S. District Court order dated March 16, 2026 stays all ACIP votes taken after June 11, 2025 and postpones the 2026 childhood immunization schedule, reverting it largely to the 2025 version pending appeal. The schedule overhaul (18→11) and the hepatitis B birth-dose change are on hold and carry no legal force for now.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - March 2026
Petition seeks to add 300+ conditions to the federal Vaccine Injury Table
Petitioners aligned with HHS Secretary Kennedy file to add more than 300 conditions to the Vaccine Injury Table under an “associated with” standard; autism remains excluded. Separately, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 9672) is introduced to raise caps, extend deadlines, and add COVID-19 vaccines.
HRSA, VICP - March 2026
FDA limits leucovorin to a rare folate disorder, not autism broadly
The FDA limits leucovorin’s indication to FOLR1-related cerebral folate transport deficiency, an ultra-rare condition, rather than autism generally, saying evidence for a broader indication is insufficient. NIH confirmatory trials remain ongoing.
FDA - March 2026
Florida vaccine-mandate repeal stalls in legislature; DOH turns to rulemaking
SB 1756 (conscience exemption) passes the Florida Senate but dies in the House; HB 917 also fails. The Department of Health instead pursues administrative rules to drop hepatitis B, chickenpox, Hib, and pneumococcal mandates and to expand exemptions to moral or ethical beliefs.
Florida Senate, SB 1756 - January 2026
HHS cuts routine childhood vaccine recommendations from 18 to 11
Following a December 2025 presidential memorandum, HHS moves influenza, COVID-19, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal vaccines from routine status to shared clinical decision-making, the largest single revision to the childhood schedule in a generation. The American Academy of Pediatrics rejects the update and issues its own guidance.
HHS.gov - December 2025
ACIP ends universal hepatitis B vaccine at birth
The reconstituted panel votes 8–3 to drop the universal birth-dose recommendation, limiting it to infants of hepatitis-B-positive or unknown-status mothers and allowing “individual-based decision making” otherwise, the first structural revision to the childhood schedule under the new HHS leadership.
CDC, ACIP - November 2025
CDC edits its autism-and-vaccines webpage
The CDC updates its autism-and-vaccines page to say the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not, in its revised framing, evidence-based, while keeping the old header under an asterisk citing a Kennedy–Cassidy agreement. Mainstream medical groups object that the edit misrepresents the research.
CDC, Autism and Vaccines - October 2025
McCullough Foundation publishes “Determinants of Autism Spectrum Disorder”
The Foundation’s report, led by epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher, names early combination childhood vaccination the leading modifiable autism risk factor and calls for a full reassessment of the U.S. schedule. It is not peer-reviewed and mainstream bodies dispute it.
McCullough Foundation - September 2025
Trump and Kennedy direct FDA to change Tylenol label and authorize leucovorin
After Kennedy previews an HHS report tying prenatal acetaminophen use and low folate to autism, the administration announces from the White House on September 22 an FDA acetaminophen pregnancy-warning label change, a leucovorin (folinic acid) label update for autism-related speech deficits, NIH confirmatory trials, a $50M Autism Data Science Initiative, and a Medicare/Medicaid claims-data initiative on causation. Mainstream researchers sharply dispute the acetaminophen link.
HHS.gov - September 2025
Reconstituted ACIP votes against MMRV for children under four
Kennedy’s newly appointed ACIP votes 8–3 against the combined MMRV shot for children under age 4 and, on September 19, removes it from Vaccines for Children coverage for that age group. A hepatitis B birth-dose vote is postponed indefinitely.
CDC, ACIP - September 2025
Kennedy defends CDC shakeup before Senate Finance Committee
Testifying September 4, Kennedy defends firing CDC Director Susan Monarez and replacing all 17 ACIP members, and reiterates claims linking vaccines to autism, drawing bipartisan criticism.
U.S. Senate Finance Committee - September 2025
Florida announces intent to end all school vaccine mandates
Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, says Florida will eliminate every childhood vaccine mandate for schools and childcare, beginning with hepatitis B and chickenpox by rule, the first such move by any state.
Florida Department of Health - September 2025
CDC single-source contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The CDC Office of Acquisition Services posts a notice of award on SAM.gov for RPI to investigate the association between vaccines and autism prevalence, with Prof. Juergen Hahn as principal investigator.
Reuters - April 2025
CDC's ADDM network reports autism at 1 in 31; Kennedy calls it a “preventable” epidemic
The CDC's 2025 ADDM report (2022 data) identifies autism in 1 in 31 eight-year-olds across 16 communities, up from 1 in 36, with wide site-to-site variation the CDC attributes largely to identification and diagnostic-access differences. Kennedy attributes the rise to environmental toxins and pledges NIH studies to identify culprits, rejecting the mainstream emphasis on improved screening.
CDC, ADDM Network - Jan 1, 2025
CDC review of vaccine safety findings
A review of long-established CDC vaccine safety findings is initiated under David Geier, who has promoted a vaccine–autism link.
- Jan 1, 2024
Dr. David Weldon nominated as CDC director
President Trump nominates Dr. David Weldon, former Florida congressman and founding member of the Congressional Autism Caucus, as CDC director. His confirmation is later blocked in Congress.
- January 2017
Kennedy says Trump asked him to chair a vaccine-safety commission
After a Trump Tower meeting, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces the president-elect asked him to lead a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity. The transition team says a decision has not been finalized, and the commission does not formally launch, but the arguments and relationships behind the 2025 HHS actions are set here.
Reuters - Jan 1, 2016
"Vaxxed" screenings and advocacy reach Trump’s orbit
Andrew Wakefield’s documentary "Vaxxed" is distributed nationally with support from private funders including Florida donor Gary Kompothecras, who helps arrange meetings between Trump and vaccine-safety advocates during the campaign.
- Jan 1, 2009
Florida thimerosal legislation lobbied
Gary Kompothecras lobbies the Florida legislature for measures to restrict the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in childhood vaccines, an early state-level marker of the causation movement.
- Jan 1, 2000
CDC convenes the Simpsonwood conference
The CDC gathers scientists at Simpsonwood, Georgia, to review Vaccine Safety Datalink data on possible links between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders, a meeting reform advocates later cite as pivotal.
- July 1999
Federal agencies call for thimerosal removal
The FDA finds cumulative mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines could exceed federal guidelines for infants; the AAP and U.S. Public Health Service jointly recommend removing thimerosal as a precaution.
- Jan 1, 1998
Wakefield MMR paper published in The Lancet
Andrew Wakefield and colleagues publish the paper suggesting a possible MMR–autism link. Co-authors retract its interpretation in 2004; The Lancet fully retracts it in 2010. The paper opens the modern debate that continues today.