WaPo: American Academy of Pediatrics Loses Funding After Criticizing RFK Jr

Not a lot of people are feeling sympathy for the American Academy of Pediatrics now that its funding has been cut because, according to The Washington Post, it criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Back in 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all children over age 2, whether vaccinated against COVID-19 or not, should wear masks when returning to school in the fall. The organization said that there were no studies supporting the concern that masking impeded children's language development. That fall, the organization claimed that "research shows that schools where children and adults are consistently masked are effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19," while the linked document contained zero citations or references, but instead a call for even more federal school funding, even if schools are remote-only, citing the teachers' union. If trust in the American Academy of Pediatrics has eroded, it's their own fault.

SCOOP: American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr. Research included reducing sudden infant deaths and identifying autism early. Me and ⁦@pw_cunningham⁩ https://t.co/nX2dfQ2623
— LenaSun (@bylenasun) December 17, 2025

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says that Kennedy's "retribution tour" is going to kill children.

RFK’s retribution tour is going to kill children https://t.co/WT1PZCEaBn
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) December 18, 2025

HHS has terminated multiple federal grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), totaling around $18-20 million, and for good reason. Consider their recent track record. They have presided over the greatest decline to the health of our children that America has ever seen.…
— Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) December 18, 2025

AAP: Forced masks, mandated childhood and newborn vaccines, contributed to SIDS, and did nothing to curtail autism. Take your annual fees and fund your own research.

Better yet, dissolve. Parents are specifically looking for pediatricians who are NOT members of AAP.
— ✝️ Dr Margaret Aranda Ferrante, MD PhD FACFEI, CTP (@TheRebelPatient) December 18, 2025

The @AmerAcadPeds is a criminal cartel. It's good when criminal cartels lose funding.
— Toby Rogers (@uTobian) December 17, 2025

Great news. AAP participates in pseudoscientific Gender ideology and launders fraudulent science to support harmful and insane policies.
— Josh Stevenson - Fringe Data Analyst (@ifihadastick) December 17, 2025

Well earned
— Mary 🟦 (@marymporte) December 18, 2025

Yup. They've cut all the DEI and "woke" programs as a waste of money and not in line with the goals of the current administration. I'm all for it, too.
— Becky With The Good Hair (@BeckyJohnson222) December 18, 2025

According to The Washington Post, this is the cause of Kennedy's "retribution tour":

Administration officials cited a range of reasons for cutting off the funding to AAP, including the group’s use of “identity-based language,” including references to racial disparities and “pregnant people,” and insufficient focus in at least one grant program on nutrition and chronic disease prevention, which they said runs afoul of HHS’s priorities.
…
One letter terminating a CDC grant on birth defects and infant disorders said “identity-based language” used in grant materials are “not aligned with current CDC and HHS priorities.” AAP received $18 million from that grant from 2023 to 2025.
The letter highlighted language in AAP’s application and award documents, including a reference to “the health of pregnant and postpartum people,” a statement that “disparities caused by racism and poverty are only exacerbated during emergencies” and a commitment to incorporating “diverse perspectives into clinical care and public health materials.”