On July 9, 2025, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., abruptly postponed a meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) scheduled for the following day. The meeting was one of three in-person meetings held annually by the task force to make recommendations on preventive medical services.
The task force comprises experts in preventive medicine and primary care who are appointed by Congress to serve on a volunteer basis for four-year terms. The USPSTF was originally created to be an independent body free from political interference; however, a recent Supreme Court ruling granted Kennedy the authority to hire and fire committee members and disregard their recommendations.
The nonpartisan group AcademyHealth, which represents health researchers, sent a letter to Congress urging them to protect the task force “from intentional or unintentional political interference,” arguing that the loss of trust in their work would “devastate patients, hospital systems, and payers as misinformation creates barriers to accessing lifesaving and cost-effective care.”
Update: On October 20, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cancelled another meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. According to news reports, the task force has not met since March.