Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced eight new members to the United States Preventive Services Task Force on Thursday, after more than a year of stymieing the panel's work. The selections suggest the Trump administration may be trying to move the historically scientifically independent task force in a direction that serves its political ideology.

At least three of them, including the new chairman, have denounced or work with groups that denounce gender-affirming care for transgender teenagers. At least two have criticized Covid vaccines. Several are specialists in one or two medical fields, unlike the primary care and prevention experts who normally serve. The appointees were selected through an opaque process.

The task force reviews scientific evidence for tests and medications to prevent conditions like cancer, diabetes and H.I.V., and recommends how they should be used. Its recommendations inform care for hundreds of millions of people and determine what care Americans can afford.

The new chairman is Dr. Seth J. Corey, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist listed as a senior fellow at Do No Harm. Another new member is Dr. Patrick K. Hunter, a pediatrician on the Florida Board of Medicine. A third, Venkatesh L. Murthy, a cardiovascular expert, has also criticized gender-affirming care. Dr. Murthy and at least two others — Dr. Dennis W. Wulfeck and Dr. Ronald P. Karlsberg — have criticized Covid shots. The other new members are Stephen T. Parente, Dr. Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, and Dr. Louis J. Wilson.

The Department of Health and Human Services described the task force as "a volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine," omitting "scientifically independent." Kennedy later said the panel would remain independent. The task force's work has been hamstrung since the Supreme Court ruled in June 2025 that Kennedy could unilaterally remove its members and override its decisions. He has prevented it from meeting four times, most recently this July.