A new Annenberg poll conducted in the first half of February shows Americans are placing their trust in career scientists and professional medical organizations over the heads of federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Two-thirds of respondents (67%) said they were confident in career scientists at the CDC, NIH, and FDA. But just 43% of Americans are confident in the agency leaders.
The poll shows a significant lack of confidence in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Less than four in 10 adults polled (38%) said they are confident Kennedy is providing trustworthy information on public health.Only 42% said they trust information from Mehmet Oz, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Those percentages are lower than the 54% who said they had confidence in Anthony Fauci, MD, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, when he was in office.
American Academy of Pediatrics highly trusted
Overall, those polled had greater trust in major health and science associations outside government—including the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Medical Association (AMA), and National Academy of Sciences—than in the CDC, NIH, or FDA.
Americans say they are more likely to accept the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics than the CDC by nearly a 4-1 margin.
“On vaccinating newborns for hepatitis B, Americans say they are more likely to accept the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics than the CDC by nearly a 4-1 margin,” the Annenberg Public Policy Center said.
About 77% of those polled said they are confident in the AAP to make public health recommendations. Only 59% of those polled said they are confident that the CDC is providing the public with trustworthy information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
But if the AMA and the CDC disagree on the safety of a vaccine, Americans are twice as likely to accept the recommendation of the AMA (34%) than the CDC (15%).
Trust in federal health agencies has fallen during Trump’s second term. In February of 2026, 60% to 62% of those polled said they trusted the CDC, NIH, and FDA, down from 74% to 76% in February of 2024.
The poll included 1,650 adults, with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points.
