The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced the appointment of 21 new members to a federal committee that advises health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on autism. The newly constituted committee is notably missing representation from longtime mainstream autism research and advocacy organizations like Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation. The committee, born out of the 2006 Autism Cares Act, was originally set up to help guide federal and private autism research. “The current committee has been hijacked by a narrow ideological agenda that does not reflect either the autism community or the state of autism science,” said Snyder. Federal members have yet to be announced, but according to the HHS announcement, the 21 new public members are: