The Department of Health and Human Services has canceled seven grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a reduction the AAP says totals millions and will disrupt programs for infant safety, rural care, mental health, autism screening and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention. HHS says the grants no longer align with department priorities under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The cuts arrive amid ongoing legal disputes between the AAP and HHS over vaccine guidance and agency processes.
HHS Cuts Millions in Grants to American Academy of Pediatrics; AAP Says Child-Health Programs Will Suffer
The US Department of Health and Human Services says it has terminated grants to a number of organizations. - Kevin Carter/Getty Images
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has terminated seven grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a move the AAP says amounts to millions of dollars in lost funding and will disrupt programs that protect child health across the United States.
Mark Del Monte, the AAP’s chief executive officer and executive vice president, said the organization learned this week that seven HHS-funded grants are being ended. The grants supported a broad array of child-health priorities, including efforts to reduce sudden infant death, expand rural access to care, improve mental and adolescent health, support children with birth defects, promote early identification of autism, and prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“This vital work spanned multiple child health priorities... The sudden withdrawal of these funds will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States,” Del Monte said, adding that the AAP is exploring all available options, including legal recourse.
The Washington Post first reported that the cancellations total millions of dollars. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed in an email that the AAP is among several medical organizations whose grants were canceled.
“These grants, previously awarded to the American Academy of Pediatrics, were canceled along with a number of other grants to other organizations because they no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities,” Nixon said.
Policy Context and Tensions
The decision comes amid broader tensions between the AAP and HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose departmental priorities have included addressing chronic disease and environmental toxins, reassessing testing models, expanding research on autism, and challenging certain public-health approaches the administration characterizes as inconsistent with its goals.
The AAP and Secretary Kennedy have publicly clashed — and are engaged in litigation — over recent changes to vaccine guidance and how immunization recommendations are made. Earlier this year the AAP publicly disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the CDC recommended that COVID-19 vaccination for young children be offered based on shared clinical decision-making; the AAP urged vaccination for all children 6 months through 23 months unless contraindicated.
The academy also criticized the CDC for accepting advisers’ recommendations to stop endorsing a universal birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. AAP President Dr. Susan Kressly called the move “deeply disappointing,” saying it appeared to dismiss expert input on guidance that affects children nationwide.
Legal Actions
A coalition of medical societies led by the AAP has asked a federal court to review recent changes to vaccine-advisory recommendations and certain actions by Secretary Kennedy, arguing that those changes violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). A hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts considered the government’s motion to dismiss the AAP’s lawsuit and whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue.
“Right now, our children need strong government leadership... Families deserve clarity. They deserve thoughtful, deliberative guidance grounded in medical evidence,” Dr. Kressly said in a news release about the hearing.
What Comes Next
The AAP says it will evaluate all options, including legal challenges, while continuing to advocate for evidence-based child-health programs. HHS has not provided public details on which specific grant programs were ended beyond the department statement that they no longer align with its priorities.
As both sides prepare for potential legal and policy fights, pediatricians, families and community partners may face funding gaps in programs that the AAP says have long supported vulnerable children and underserved communities.
