Overview

• During a White House cabinet meeting Tuesday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency will announce in September which "interventions" are "almost certainly causing autism."
• President Donald Trump responded that "there has to be something artificially causing this," urging Kennedy to present findings as soon as possible.
• HHS documents reviewed by The Independent list multiple autism research grants as terminated, totaling about $6.9 million in projects with unspent balances.
• ProPublica reported that Kennedy eliminated a NIOSH division, halting work by epidemiologist Erin McCanlies on parental chemical exposures and autism risk.
• Researchers and advocacy leaders cite a longstanding consensus that vaccines do not cause autism and question the initiative's accelerated timeline, transparency and reliance on press conferences over peer review.