The new vaccine recommendations ignore long-standing medical guidance and will make states have to spend more to protect against outbreaks, the states, including Arizona and California, said.
“The health and safety of children across the country is not a political issue,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, at a news conference. “It is not a culture war talking point.”
The CDC and Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit escalates an ongoing battle between Democratic-led states and Republican President Donald Trump's administration over the federal government's changes to public health policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of workers at federal public health agencies, cut funding for scientific research and altered government guidance on fluoride and other topics.
Kennedy last year ousted every member of a vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with his own picks, which Tuesday's complaint alleges was unlawful.
The lawsuit comes months after the Democratic governors of California, Washington state and Oregon launched an alliance to establish their own vaccine recommendations. The governors said the Trump administration was risking people's health by politicizing the CDC.
States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren, though the CDC's requirements typically influence state regulations.