Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee on June 9—specifically, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). It’s essentially the CDC’s vaccine expert panel responsible for studying the effects—including the side effects—of vaccines that are still in development, as well as those that are already on the market.

Let’s go through the details of why he chose to gut this committee, as well as who he chose to replace the fired members.