Robert Kennedy Jr. Moves to Rebuild the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has dismissed the leadership of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)—physician John Wong of Tufts Medical Center and professor Esa Davis of the University of Maryland—in May 2025 and placed the independent panel, which has been on hiatus since March 2025, on a path to a full membership turnover. The department announced that applications for new members are being accepted, with an emphasis on specialties it says were previously under-represented, such as oncology and anesthesiology.

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Kennedy told a Senate Finance Committee hearing in April that the existing panel was “lackadaisical and negligent.” He indicated the USPSTF could expand insurance coverage for preventive screenings at no extra cost to consumers, though he acknowledged the possibility that some newly covered tests might “not be evidence-based or potentially could cause more harm than good.” The HHS statement said the next meeting, originally slated for July 2025, would be moved to August 2025 “to allow additional time for selection and onboarding of new Task Force members.”

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The American Medical Association (AMA) issued two statements in July 2025. In the first, it expressed “deep concern” over reports that Kennedy planned to replace all USPSTF members, emphasizing the panel’s “critical, non-partisan role” in guiding disease-prevention efforts. After the firings, the AMA urged Kennedy to “restore the USPSTF’s long-standing, transparent process for selecting members, specifically clinicians with expertise in the fields of preventive medicine and primary care,” and implored HHS to resume regular meetings.

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Adam Carroll, president and CEO of the health-policy nonprofit AcademyHealth, warned that Kennedy’s appointees could promote policies that are “no longer evidence-based or scientific.” Carroll cautioned that expanding coverage without rigorous review might lead to “screenings that might not be evidence-based or potentially could cause more harm than good.”

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• “lackadaisical and negligent.” — Robert Kennedy Jr., Senate Finance Committee testimony

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• “deep concern” — American Medical Association, July 2025 statement

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• “critical, non-partisan role” — American Medical Association, July 2025 statement

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• “no longer evidence-based or scientific.” — Adam Carroll, AcademyHealth (to Politico)

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• “to allow additional time for selection and onboarding of new Task Force members.” — HHS statement, August 2025 meeting notice

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