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There are countless think tanks in the U.S.聽seeking聽to influence local, state, and national policy. A聽relatively new聽one is making its mark in President Donald Trump鈥檚 Washington: the Texas-based Brownstone Institute.聽

Libertarian author Jeffrey Tucker created the institute in 2021, fueled by聽聽and other pandemic-era policies. His institute鈥檚 covid contrarians聽seek聽to limit the government鈥檚 role in protecting people from disease. In recent months, people with ties to the group have catapulted to the highest levels of the U.S. government.聽

At least eight people with ties to the Brownstone Institute hold or recently held senior positions at federal health agencies or key roles聽advising聽the government, including at the National Institutes of Health, at the聽FDA, and on a key vaccine panel that聽advises聽the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.聽

Those people are already changing the direction of U.S. public health policy. For example, people with ties to the institute have sown doubt about covid vaccines and routine childhood immunizations, dismissing widespread evidence that they are safe and that the benefits outweigh the risks.聽

鈥淭hey鈥檝e successfully placed their ideology inside the mechanism that determines U.S. vaccine policy,鈥� said Jake Scott, a physician at Stanford Medicine who specializes in infectious diseases. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very, very troubling.鈥�

The Brownstone Institute鈥檚 website聽says聽聽鈥渢o support writers, lawyers, scientists, economists, and other people of courage who have been professionally purged and displaced during the upheaval of our times.鈥澛�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a danger associated with聽a state-imposed orthodoxy,鈥� Tucker聽told聽麻豆女优 Health News. 鈥淚 think Brownstone has a moral obligation to care for dissidents and create settings in which they鈥檙e able to test their ideas against people with whom they disagree.鈥澛�

Brownstone鈥檚 critics say its associates make extreme claims about vaccines and promote anti-vaccine messages.聽

鈥淭hey鈥檝e been willing to publish articles of some very extreme anti-vaccine people,鈥� said Dorit Reiss, a professor at聽the聽University of California Law-San Francisco focused on vaccine-related legal and policy issues.聽

The nonprofit reported聽nearly $7.4 million聽in contributions, grants, and other payments聽from聽2021聽to聽2024.聽聽

Despite the ascendance of those with ties to his group, Tucker said that 鈥渁nybody who thinks that somehow Brownstone is some big plot, it鈥檚 crazy.鈥� He said he is not in regular contact with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department oversees the CDC, FDA, and NIH.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have any influence,鈥� Tucker said.