On February 13, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, and Kennedy was confirmed 52 to 48. Kennedy's department pulled back pandemic-era public health money from states that did not sue, and Alaska's health department abruptly laid off 30 public health employees. Kennedy fired every member of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee, completed the exit from the World Health Organization, and presided over a CDC that lost 30%, or more than 3,800 employees.
Sullivan also voted to confirm the heads of the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, whose agencies canceled research grants on a scale the NIH had not seen and narrowed who can get a COVID-19 vaccine, so some Alaskans seeking to be vaccinated against the disease may have to wait. In February 2025 he voted against a budget amendment to protect the staff and money for responding to bird flu.
Dan Sullivan's Confirmation Votes and the Health Agency Cuts That Followed
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Department Cut State Public Health Money and Fired the Vaccine Advisers. On February 13, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services; he was confirmed 52 to 48. In March 2025 his department moved to pull back $11.4 billion in supplemental funding that states were using for disease tracking, labs and vaccination, and canceled nearly 700 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants nationwide. States that sued got much of it back, but funding has not been restored to the remaining states, the majority of which are Republican. In June 2025 Kennedy dismissed all 17 sitting members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee, and the new panel voted to end the 34-year-old recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine. The CDC lost 30%, or more than 3,800 employees, between March 2025 and May 2026, and in 2026 the country recorded nearly 3,887 confirmed cases of measles as of October 1, more than in any year since 1991.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm the Health Secretary Who Completed the U.S. Exit From the World Health Organization. Sullivan voted to confirm Kennedy, whose department and the State Department completed the withdrawal from the World Health Organization that President Trump ordered, and the U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization as of January 22, 2026. Officials acknowledged the U.S. lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of disease threats, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America warned this will severely hamper efforts to match vaccines to circulating strains of flu.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Jay Bhattacharya as NIH Director During the Largest Wave of Research Grant Cancellations on Record. On March 25, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health. Between February and August 2025 the agency terminated 2,291 active grants, rescinding $2.45 billion, according to the Partnership for Public Service. In the 13 years before 2025, the NIH terminated fewer than six grants midstream, the Congressional Research Service found. The cuts interrupted nearly 1 in 30 clinical trials, affecting more than 74,000 patients and research into cancer, infectious disease and more. In April 2026, while also overseeing the CDC, Bhattacharya held back publication of a CDC study on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Who Narrowed Access to COVID-19 Vaccines. On March 25, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Martin Makary as commissioner of food and drugs. In 2025 the FDA limited the approval to persons 65 and older and people with high-risk conditions, after earlier approvals covered everyone 6 months and older. In April, more than 3,500 FDA employees were laid off, and inspectors told ProPublica, "You can’t inspect as many sites."
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Jim O'Neill, Who Ran the CDC as It Rewrote Vaccine Advice. On June 5, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Jim O'Neill as deputy secretary of health and human services. After the White House removed Monarez as CDC director in August 2025, O'Neill led the agency. The CDC stopped recommending the combined MMRV shot for young children, so insurers will no longer be required to cover this vaccine at no-cost, and posted a page saying studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.
- Sullivan Voted Against Protecting Bird Flu Response Staff and Funding in February 2025. On February 21, 2025, Sullivan voted no on an amendment to the budget resolution relating to preventing reductions in funding and staffing necessary to respond to avian flu. It failed 47 to 53. In May 2025 the Department of Health and Human Services has terminated a $590 million award it received in January to develop a bird flu vaccine, amid continued circulation of H5N1 in US dairy cattle, poultry flocks. In July the CDC ends its emergency response for H5N1 bird flu, a step KFF said can slow identification of outbreaks and potentially slow response times.
What the Public Health Cuts Under the Officials Dan Sullivan Confirmed Mean for Alaska
- Public health workers. The Alaska Department of Health abruptly laid off 30 public health employees this week after the federal government canceled a set of pandemic-era grants, the Alaska Beacon reported on April 4, 2025.
- University of Alaska research. By May 2025, 23 University of Alaska grants had been terminated, totaling a loss of $10 million, and approximately 27% of the university's federal research funding had been terminated or frozen, its federal relations director told the Board of Regents, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
- COVID-19 vaccines. After the federal changes, some Alaskans seeking to be vaccinated against the disease may have to wait for that, the Alaska Beacon reported.
- Measles protection. Nationally 92.4% of kindergarteners had been vaccinated against measles in the 2025-26 school year, and a vaccination rate of at least 95% is needed to prevent community transmission of measles, KFF reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dan Sullivan on Science and public health
What is Dan Sullivan's record on science and public health under Trump?
Dan Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department pulled back public health money that led Alaska to lay off 30 public health employees, fired the CDC's vaccine advisers and completed the exit from the World Health Organization. He also voted to confirm the NIH and FDA heads, whose agencies terminated 2,291 active grants and narrowed COVID-19 vaccine access. He voted against a budget amendment to protect bird flu response funding, which failed 47 to 53.
Did Dan Sullivan vote to confirm RFK Jr.?
Yes. Dan Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services on February 13, 2025, and the vote was 52 to 48. KFF found that about four in ten voters approve of the Trump administration’s handling of vaccine policy (38%) while six in ten disapprove (61%).
Did the Trump administration's changes make it harder to get a COVID vaccine in Alaska?
Dan Sullivan voted to confirm FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, whose agency limited the approval to persons 65 and older and high-risk people. The Alaska Beacon reported that some Alaskans seeking to be vaccinated against the disease may have to wait for that.
Last updated: 2026-10-25