Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told President Donald Trump during a July 31 Cabinet meeting that federal researchers expect to provide answers about the causes of autism.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said July 31 that federal research into the causes of autism is progressing and that answers are forthcoming, responding directly to President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting in Maryland.
“How are you doing on the autism research?” Trump asked Kennedy.
“We will have an answer for you,” Kennedy replied.
“That’s so important,” Trump said. “We’ll be talking about that. Such an important thing.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond Friday to a request for additional comment.
The exchange comes as autism diagnoses have increased substantially among American children over the past quarter-century. According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2025, about one in 31 children has autism, compared with roughly one in 150 in 2000.
Autism can present in different ways, with symptoms that may include difficulty with speech and sensitivity to loud sounds.
Kennedy launched a federal effort in April 2025 aimed at identifying factors associated with autism and initially said findings would be available by September of that year. During an August 2025 Cabinet meeting, he told Trump, “We are doing very well. We will have announcements as promised in September.”
Federal health officials have not since publicly identified a single cause of autism.
The CDC, under Kennedy’s leadership, later revised one of its webpages to state that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The question remains contested among researchers and physicians. Some doctors and scientists maintain that vaccines do not cause autism and cite studies including a 2015 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Others argue that the issue remains open or point to other research, including a 2026 preprint, indicating a possible association.
Kennedy has said the federal government is committing substantial resources to understanding autism’s origins and potential treatment pathways.
“We’ve invested a tremendous amount of money in trying to understand the etiology of autism, because there’s millions of families around the country that have children that … they would love to be able to help, but we don’t really have great answers, both for the cause and how to sort of reverse whatever problems there are,” Kennedy said.
The federal government’s autism advisory panel has also broadened its research priorities.
A draft strategic plan released in July said the panel wants to support research into autism’s causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Sylvia Fogel, chair of the panel, said the draft does not presume that autism has one underlying explanation.
“The Working Draft Strategic Plan does not claim that autism or regression has one cause,” Fogel said on X. “It calls for rigorous study of meaningful subgroups and possible genetic, immune, mitochondrial, metabolic, neurological, gastrointestinal, environmental, and other pathways.”
Kennedy’s comments to Trump indicate that the administration expects its continuing research effort to produce additional findings, although neither Kennedy nor HHS provided a timetable during the July 31 exchange for when those conclusions would be released.
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