RFK Jr.’s CDC Launches Study on Vaccines and Autism Conspiracy

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to launch a study on connections between vaccines and autism, despite extensive research debunking the conspiracy theory.

The move comes weeks after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of opposing vaccination, was confirmed as secretary of health and human services. It’s not clear if he is involved with the decision. Right now, the United States is in the midst of a massive measles outbreak resulting in two deaths and more than 150 infections, and Kennedy’s response has been lackluster.

Kennedy downplayed the first recorded measles death in a decade last week, and since then, has refused to endorse the vaccine and instead touted therapeutic remedies like vitamin A, alarming experts. Last month, on Kennedy’s first day heading the department, the CDC laid off half of its Epidemic Intelligence Service, otherwise known as the “Disease Detectives,” axing 1,260 employees.

This latest move gives in to the conspiracy theory of a link between vaccines and autism, which is fueled by a rise in diagnoses that researchers say is really due to more screenings taking place. In the late 1990s, a now-discredited and debunked British study connected autism to the widespread administration of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.

During his address to Congress on Tuesday, President Trump mentioned the rise in autism among children, tasking Kennedy with finding the cause.

“So, we’re going to find out what it is, and there’s nobody better than Bobby and all of the people that are working with you,” Trump said.

During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy denied being anti-vaccine, although he refused to acknowledge that there were no proven links between vaccines and autism. And Trump NIH nominee Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said during his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this week that he “would support a broad scientific agenda based on data to get an answer to” the rise in autism rates. It seems that, in terms of public health, the Trump administration has now adopted the philosophy of “We’re just asking questions.”

Donald Trump threatened sanctions against Russia Friday—before getting right back to blaming Ukraine for the continued fighting there.

Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that he was “strongly considering” placing additional sanctions on Russia, referring to reports that the fighting was still ongoing in Ukraine—which he recently cut off from U.S. military aid and intelligence after clashing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”

Trump’s feeble first attempt at intimidating Russian President Vladimir Putin into ending the war comes just days after the White House reportedly started making a list of sanctions on Russia that they could lift as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing negotiations to end the invasion of Ukraine. This included lifting sanctions on individuals such as Russian oligarchs, who Trump has insisted are “very nice people.”

Despite his supposedly tougher message to Russia on social media, Trump continued his capitulation to Putin during a press conference, downplaying Russia’s continued aggression toward Ukraine while finding a way to blame Ukraine for the fighting.

When asked whether he thought Putin was “taking advantage” of the pause in U.S. military aid and intelligence to continue the fighting in Ukraine, Trump practically said he agreed with the Russian onslaught.

“I actually think he’s doing what anybody else would do, I think he’s, I think he wants to get it stopped and settled and I think he’s hitting ’em harder than he’s been hitting ’em. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday.

“He wants to get it ended, and I think Ukraine wants to get it ended,” Trump said incredulously. “But I don’t see—it’s crazy. They’re taking tremendous punishment. I don’t quite get it.”

Trump’s remarks seemingly take the onus for the continued violence off Russia—and the U.S., which created the opportunity in the first place by undermining Ukraine—and place it back on Zelenskiy, whom Trump wants to paint as uncommitted to ending the fight.

In recent weeks, Trump has piled the pressure onto Zelenskiy while projecting nothing but confidence onto Putin, who is ultimately the aggressor behind Russia’s two-year, full-scale invasion.

During the Friday press conference, Trump also said that he still believes Putin “wants peace,” despite continuing to drop bombs in Ukraine. “I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine,” Trump said.

Putin vowed Thursday that Russia would not retreat from the territory it has claimed in Ukraine, and would seek a peace deal that ensured Russia’s security in the future.

In his administration’s latest attack on labor rights, Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced Friday it will end the collective bargaining agreement with workers at the Transportation Security Administration.

“This action will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforces across the nation’s transportation networks,” the DHS said in a statement. “TSA is renewing its commitment to providing a quick and secure travel process for Americans.”

Around 50,000 people are employed by the TSA and are responsible for keeping air passengers safe across the country. They screen thousands of passengers to prevent weapons and explosives from being brought into airports and aircrafts. Now, without collective bargaining, the administration will likely lose a good chunk of its workforce, putting American travelers at further risk.

The DHS blamed collective bargaining for hindering “merit-based performance recognition” for TSA employees, and said it fails “to safeguard our transportation systems and keep Americans safe,” a ridiculous assertion given the job of TSA workers is to do just that—keep Americans safe. Last year, the TSA intercepted over 6,000 firearms from airport security checkpoints.

Ending the agreement is yet another move from Trump that will make flying in the U.S. more chaotic and unsafe. He’s already fired hundreds of crucial employees at the Federal Aviation Administration and pushed out the former administrator of the TSA, David Peskoke.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 750,000 federal government employees, slammed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision and defended the thousands of employees who “make sure our skies are safe for air travel” and ensure “another terrorist attack like Sept. 11 never happens again.”

“They gave as a justification a completely fabricated claim about union officials—making clear this action has nothing to do with efficiency, safety, or homeland security,” the AFGE statement reads.

“This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union.”

A Trump supporter in Virginia says he is reconsidering his support for the president after he was racially profiled and targeted by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE agents reportedly had their guns drawn as they interrogated and detained Jensy Machado, a Manassas resident, along with two other men he was driving home with after work. Machado told NBC News 4 Thursday night that he was not asked to produce documentation proving that he’s a U.S. citizen.

“They just got out the car with the guns in their hands and said, ‘Turn off the car, give me the keys, open the window,’” Machado told the channel’s sister station, Telemundo 44. “Everything was really fast.”

He said the agents were looking to deport a man who had been reported to reside at Machado’s home residence, but he did not recognize the individual’s name.

“They didn’t ask me for any ID. I was telling the officer if I could give him ID, but he said to keep my hands up, not moving,” Machado, who shared his Real ID-compliant Virginia state driver’s license with the news station, continued. “And then after that he told me to get out of the car, and then he put the handcuffs on me, and then he went to me and asked how I got into this country.

“I told him I was an American citizen, and he looked at his other partner [as if he was saying], ‘Do you believe this guy?’” Machado said.

Machado added that the two men he was with were taken into custody, though he did not know the reason why.

The whole ordeal has made Machado, a naturalized U.S. citizen, question his faith in the president and his immigration policies. He originally believed that the Trump administration would only target undocumented criminals—but now he’s not so sure.

“Because, like I said, I was a Trump supporter,” Machado told NBC. “I voted for Trump last election, but, because I thought it was going to be the things, you know, like … just go against criminals, not every Hispanic-looking, like, that they will assume that we are all illegals.”

The ousted head of human resources at the IRS, Traci DiMartini, is vowing to fight back after she says she was fired for telling IRS employees that agency firings came from the DOGE-controlled Office of Personnel Management.

DiMartini was placed on leave Monday for alleged “ineffective management” of the Trump administration’s mass federal employee purge, as well as “insubordination” toward the Department of Government Efficiency. She says she was fired not only for telling IRS staff where firings were coming from but also because she refused to call employees into the office over the weekend to onboard a DOGE staffer after they were putting in “60–70 hour” workweeks in the midst of tax season.

“They’re trying to politicize human capital,” DiMartini told Government Executive. “They want to be able to hire only loyalists, ignore Title 5 [of the U.S. Code] and commit flagrant prohibited personnel practices. When you look at the Merit Systems Protections Board and what the civil protections are, we’re supposed to have a nonpartisan civil service, and we have been completely whipsawed.”

DiMartini told the publication that she doesn’t plan to return to federal employment but will challenge her dismissal, saying she never faced discipline in 21 years of working in the government.

“It’s my job to stand up and be the buffer between politicals and career employees, and I’m just trying to do my goddamn job,” DiMartini said. “They have no idea who they picked a f—king fight with.”

DOGE has already infiltrated the IRS, seeking access to American taxpayers’ personal data, and Trump even wants to get rid of the agency altogether. But, like the rest of his efforts to overhaul the government, following the law is not one of his concerns.