Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday that his department will know what is causing the autism epidemic by September.
A CDC study from 2020 found that 1 in 36 children in the United States have been diagnosed with autism. Kennedy, while speaking to President Donald Trump about the announcement, said that now 1 in 31 children are diagnosed with the disorder.
âThe latest rates, the autism rates have gone from 1 in 31 from 1 in 10,000 when I was a kid,â RFK said to Trump. âAt your direction, weâve launched a massive testing and research effort thatâs going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world.â
âBy September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we will be able to eliminate those exposures,â he added.
Trump applauded Kennedyâs work and said âthere will be no bigger news conferenceâ when RFK reveals whatâs behind the epidemic.
đ¨ BREAKING: HHS Secretary @RobertKennedyJr declares that by September, the United States will uncover the cause of the autism epidemic and eliminate exposures:@POTUS: âThink of that, so it was 1 in 10,000 children had autism, and now itâs 1 in 31.â pic.twitter.com/Y81wxzOfF1
â Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 10, 2025
Just last month, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the department will leave âno stone unturnedâ while studying the rise in autism.
âAs President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress, the rate of autism in American children has skyrocketed,â he said. âCDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening. The American people expect high quality research and transparency and that is what CDC is delivering.â
Numerous reports indicated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was specifically studying if there is any link between vaccinations and the rise in autism.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has said he doesnât believe there is a link between vaccines and the rise in autism, but would back âa broad scientific agendaâ looking into the matter.
âI donât generally believe there is a link, based on my reading of the literature. But we do have a sharp rise in autism rates, and I donât think any scientist really knows the cause of it,â Bhattacharya said during a confirmation hearing. âI would support a broad scientific agenda based on data to get an answer to that.â
Related: Kennedyâs CDC To Reportedly Study Potential Link Between Vaccines And Autism