As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton praised Health Secretary Kennedy's "significant efforts to ensure safety when it comes to childhood vaccines" in January 2026, as his office sent more than 20 civil investigative demands to medical providers, insurers and drug makers over vaccine recommendations. By then Kennedy had fired every member of the federal vaccine advisory committee, and a federal judge later blocked his cut to the childhood vaccine schedule.
When the CDC pulled back public health grants in 2025, about two dozen states sued and kept most of their money. Texas remains the state with the most grants terminated, and Texas lost $700 million in federal public health funding.
Ken Paxton's Statements on Kennedy's Vaccine Changes and Texas's CDC Grants
- Paxton Praised Kennedy's Childhood Vaccine Changes in January 2026. On January 21, 2026, announcing an investigation into what he called unlawful financial incentives for childhood vaccine recommendations, with over 20 civil investigative demands to companies including UnitedHealthcare and Pfizer, Ken Paxton said: "Alongside President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's significant efforts to ensure safety when it comes to childhood vaccines, my office will fight to protect kids' health and uphold transparency in the medical industry." CIDRAP reported that he offered no evidence for the scheme he alleged. Kennedy fired and replaced all the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June 2025, and the new committee voted to end the 34-year-old recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine. After it dropped the combination MMRV shot for young children, insurers will no longer be required to cover this vaccine at no cost. In January 2026 HHS cut the vaccines recommended for all children to 11 diseases from 17; a federal judge stayed that change in March 2026, and it remains blocked. In an October 2026 KFF poll, six in ten voters disapprove of the administration's handling of vaccine policy.
- Paxton Pledged in August 2026 to Work Alongside Kennedy While Investigating the Nation's Pediatricians' Group. On August 5, 2026, Ken Paxton sent a civil investigative demand to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which had sued HHS alleging that Kennedy's changes to the CDC schedule lacked a scientific basis, and said: "My office will fight to protect kids' health and uphold transparency in the medical industry alongside President Trump and Secretary Kennedy." Under Kennedy the CDC revoked its recommendation that healthy children and pregnant women receive routine COVID-19 vaccines, and the FDA limited the approval of COVID vaccines to persons 65 and older and people at high risk. In April 2026 the official then overseeing the CDC held back publication of a CDC study on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, which found vaccination cut the likelihood of emergency visits due to Covid by 50 percent.
- Texas Did Not Join the States That Sued and Kept Their CDC Grants; It Lost the Most. In 2025, when the CDC canceled nearly 700 grants to state and local health departments, attorneys general and governors from about two dozen blue states sued in federal court and won an injunction. Ken Paxton's office did not join them, and Texas is not among the states that kept their money. California retained every grant the Trump administration attempted to claw back, while Texas remains the state with the most grants terminated, with at least 30. As the CDC cut grants in Texas, its measles outbreak spread across the U.S. and Mexico, sickening at least 4,500 people, KFF Health News reported in August 2025.
How Texas Health Departments Lost CDC Money After Ken Paxton's Office Stayed Out of the Lawsuit
- Public health jobs. Texas lost $700 million in unspent federal pandemic-era funding in March 2025, and both state and local public health departments laid off employees, the Texas Tribune reported.
- Measles response. Federal grants paid for workers to help with measles testing and vaccination in Lubbock during the 2025 West Texas outbreak, the Texas Tribune reported when the grants were canceled.
- Vaccination clinics. After the cuts, the leader of public health in Dallas had to cancel 50 vaccination clinics, STAT reported, and the Houston Health Department said it was losing $42 million.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ken Paxton on Science and public health
What is Ken Paxton's record on science and public health under Trump?
Ken Paxton praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s childhood vaccine changes in January and August 2026 while his office investigated pediatricians, insurers, drug makers and the American Academy of Pediatrics over vaccine recommendations. Kennedy's HHS fired its vaccine advisers, ended no-cost coverage requirements for the MMRV shot and narrowed COVID vaccine recommendations. Texas, which did not join the states that sued over the 2025 CDC grant cuts, lost the most grants of any state.
Why is Ken Paxton investigating the American Academy of Pediatrics?
Ken Paxton says he is investigating whether the American Academy of Pediatrics promotes childhood vaccines for financial gain, and he issued it a civil investigative demand on August 5, 2026. His release notes that the academy sued HHS in July 2025 over Kennedy's vaccine changes and published its own evidence-based immunization schedule.
Does Ken Paxton support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine policies?
Yes. Ken Paxton praised "Secretary Kennedy's significant efforts to ensure safety when it comes to childhood vaccines" in January 2026 and said in August 2026 that his office would work "alongside President Trump and Secretary Kennedy." KFF polling shows 61% of voters disapprove of the administration's handling of vaccine policy.
Why did Texas lose more CDC grants than any other state?
Ken Paxton's office did not join the lawsuit that attorneys general and governors from about two dozen blue states filed against the 2025 CDC grant cancellations, and those states kept most of their grants after winning an injunction. KFF Health News found that Texas remains the state with the most grants terminated.
Last updated: 2026-10-25