Three blue-state governors just teamed up to write their own vaccine rules, ignoring federal guidance from Trump’s CDC. Their move sets up a coast-to-coast clash over who decides what’s “science” — Washington or activist politicians in Sacramento, Salem, and Olympia.

The alliance launched this week as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled the “West Coast Health Alliance.” They plan to reject CDC recommendations under President Donald Trump and issue coordinated state guidance instead, leaning on groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

HHS fired back immediately. “Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Fox News Digital. He added that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) “remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country,” and that the department “will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science.”

The governors framed their breakaway as a response to the Trump administration’s overhaul at CDC. “President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” they said in a joint statement. “The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”

Trump’s team says the opposite is true: the shake-up is meant to rebuild trust by removing entrenched bureaucrats who presided over years of confusion. All 17 ACIP members were dismissed in June as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to “restore public trust” in vaccine guidance. The administration argues the new advisory structure will be more accountable and more transparent — not less.

The fight follows weeks of turmoil. CDC Director Susan Monarez was pushed out after resisting new directives, prompting additional resignations by senior officials. Anonymous sources claimed she was pressed to reverse approvals for certain COVID-19 vaccines; her attorneys later said she “has neither resigned nor yet been fired.” The agency’s overhaul is still moving forward, with HHS insisting it is cleaning up a system many Americans no longer trust.

On the West Coast, the alliance promises to publish its own synchronized recommendations “in the coming weeks.” The governors also said tribal nations will continue to exercise full sovereignty over vaccine programs. That means millions could soon be living under state rules that contradict federal guidance — a patchwork that risks confusion for families, doctors, and schools.

HHS’s message to these governors is blunt. The department says national immunization policy will be rooted in independent review, not politics. By emphasizing ACIP’s role as the scientific engine for recommendations, the Trump administration is drawing a bright line against state-level freelancing that echoes the worst of the pandemic era.

Parents remember exactly how that went. West Coast leaders championed school closures, mask mandates for toddlers, and passport schemes that punished working families. Now those same officials want to override federal experts again, even as the administration rebuilds public health with fresh eyes and higher standards.

Trump’s record is to centralize accountability, set clear rules, and back them with data. The White House insists that “Gold Standard Science” — not pressure from activist officials — will shape vaccine policy going forward. If the West Coast alliance presses ahead, it will test whether states can defy the government on core national health standards without hurting the people they claim to protect.

This is the choice: a single, clear framework that restores trust, or three governors reviving the chaos and politics that failed their residents. Conservatives should stand firm: back rigorous national standards, reject blue-state science theater, and keep America on a path where parents, not politicians, come first.