The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will study whether vaccines cause autism, despite numerous existing studies already showing there is no link.

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon confirmed the effort in a statement overnight, saying the agency plans to leave "no stone unturned."

"As President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress, the rate of autism in American children has skyrocketed. CDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening," the statement said. "The American people expect high quality research and transparency and that is what CDC is delivering."