The Center for American Progress (CAP) has released yet another hyper-partisan report attacking the Trump administration — this time claiming that routine vaccine access is in jeopardy because President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are “undermining” the nation’s immunization system. Unsurprisingly, the report relies on political talking points rather than an honest assessment of where public health has gone wrong over the past decade.
CAP’s latest release asserts that the administration is “fueling confusion” by removing entrenched bureaucrats from the CDC, revisiting outdated vaccine recommendations and giving a voice to Americans who have long raised legitimate concerns about government transparency and pharmaceutical accountability. What CAP dismisses as “elevating vaccine skeptics,” many Americans recognize as restoring public trust after years of inconsistent messaging, politicized mandates and government overreach.
Jill Rosenthal, CAP’s director of Public Health Policy, claims that states must now “act as the last line of defense” because the federal government is “walking away from its responsibility.” In reality, the administration’s approach empowers states — the constitutional and historically appropriate locus for public health decision-making — to tailor vaccine access and policies to the needs of their own residents.
CAP’s “solutions” reveal exactly why the public has grown wary of centralized federal health power. Among their recommendations:
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Blindly align state policy with “leading guidance” — the same guidance that shifted repeatedly during the COVID era.
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Expand who can administer vaccines — raising questions about quality control and patient safety.
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Force insurers to cover state-recommended vaccines at no cost, regardless of whether families want or need them.
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Shield providers from accountability as long as they follow government-approved recommendations.
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Create interstate alliances that allow bureaucrats to coordinate mandates above the heads of voters.
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Centralize vaccine purchasing — a strategy that failed spectacularly during past federal stockpile mismanagement.
These proposals amount to the same top-down, one-size-fits-all model that eroded trust in the first place.
CAP paints a dire picture of “crumbling” federal infrastructure, yet states have always held primary authority over vaccine access and public health. The Trump administration’s efforts to streamline bloated agencies and return medical decision-making to families and local officials reflect a shift away from the coercive public-health model championed by organizations like CAP.
States don’t need Washington technocrats — or CAP policy papers — to decide what is best for their communities.
Notably absent from CAP’s report is any acknowledgment of why vaccine hesitancy has increased: contradictory messaging, suppression of debate and the politicization of science by the very institutions CAP claims to defend. Instead of self-reflection, the organization chooses the familiar route of blaming Trump for problems that predate his administration.
CAP’s report is less a roadmap for protecting vaccine access and more a partisan attempt to reassert federal control under the guise of “public health expertise.” Conservatives believe states can both expand access and rebuild trust — without surrendering authority to the same centralized system that lost the public’s confidence.
If CAP truly cared about strengthening public health, it would support transparency, accountability and respect for personal choice — not more mandates, more bureaucracy and more political fearmongering.
