Seventeen senators, led by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), have sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging him to restore the independence of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The letter asks for answers on recent changes to the panel, including the addition of eight new members that shifted its makeup from primary care and prevention experts toward specialists and a non-clinician healthcare economist. The senators called this a major break from the task force's historic composition, noting that specialists previously served mainly as consultants to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
The letter also raises concerns about the speed and transparency of the appointment process. A Federal Register notice in April gave applicants just one month to apply, a drastic change from the usual year-long process with a three-month application window. The senators said this rushed timeline raises questions about whether candidates were pre-determined. They also noted that the conflict-of-interest disclosure page for the task force is "barren and inactive" and asked whether the new members are still held to rigorous standards.
Beyond the appointments, the senators expressed strong concerns about staffing cuts at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which conducts the evidence reviews the task force relies on. AHRQ has lost about 80% of that career staff over the past 18 months, leading the senators to doubt whether the USPSTF can develop credible, evidence-based recommendations. The letter includes five key questions for Kennedy and requests a response by Oct. 15. It also notes that an earlier letter about politicization at the task force has gone unanswered. The USPSTF has not met since March 2025, and a past chair recently wrote that AHRQ leadership suppressed some of the group's recommendations, including ones on cervical cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention.