RFK Jr orders measles deaths pulled from CDC count after spat with governor

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to remove two Pennsylvania deaths from its online measles tally after questioning whether the disease contributed to them, according to an exclusive new report.

The Trump administration official issued the directive even though CDC staff had already accepted Pennsylvania's determination that the deaths were linked to measles, Reuters reported Thursday. Newly appointed CDC Director Erica Schwartz reportedly carried out the order without objection.

Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association and a former Maryland health secretary, told Reuters it is "unheard of" for the CDC to publicly cast doubt on the conclusions of state and local health departments, even when the agency wants more information.

"The secretary had no business interfering in the normal process," Benjamin said. "He has an anti-vaccine agenda and he's using this to play out his anti-vaccine agenda."

Kennedy's unusual move came after a bitter back-and-forth between Kennedy and Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro over the state's outbreak, which spilled onto social media.

Grace Davis Jamison, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, said the agency "requested details necessary to determine whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths." She cited conflicting reports between county and state health officials, Reuters said, and did not comment on the role of Kennedy or Schwartz in excluding the deaths.

"The Pennsylvania health department notified the CDC of two measles-associated deaths on the morning of August 25 and then made the news public on its website, according to the Pennsylvania official, who is close to Shapiro," the report said.

The CDC initially raised no concerns and "signified its ongoing support for the (state health) department's efforts," the Pennsylvania official told Reuters.

UPDATE (Sept. 3, 2026): In a statement to Raw Story after publication, an HHS spokesperson called the headline and story "false and misleading" and said the decision to remove the Pennsylvania deaths from the CDC's national measles reporting "was made by CDC."

"CDC has a responsibility to ensure its reporting accurately distinguishes between what is known and what remains unconfirmed," the spokesperson said, adding that the current tally reflects "the best available information."

The statement did not deny that Kennedy asked the agency to remove the deaths, and it did not address the Reuters reporting, attributed to three sources, that he made the request personally. HHS also did not dispute that the two deaths were taken off the tally.