Public health contrarian RFK Jr. nominated to HHS secretary
Vaccine skeptic and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been nominated to the position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by President-elect Donald Trump.
The controversial appointment would give Kennedy oversight of departments that fall under the purview of HHS, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Trump announced the appointment on Truth Social, the Twitter clone he is the majority owner of.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump wrote in a post. “The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country.”
He added that Kennedy will “restore” HHS, CMS, and the FDA to the “gold standard” of scientific research and make them “beacons of transparency.”
Kennedy has been a vocal critic of the FDA, accusing the agency of being corrupted by corporate interests.
“FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals, and anything else that advances human health and can't be patented by [pharmaceutical companies],” Kennedy wrote in a post on Twitter.
During the October annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner charity event, Trump was asked about Kennedy’s role in a new Trump administration. He praised Kennedy for being a “good guy” but expressed hesitation over some of Kennedy’s positions.
"We're gonna let him go wild for a little while, then I'm gonna have to maybe rein him back, because he's got some pretty wild ideas, but most of them are really good," Trump is quoted as saying at the dinner. "I think he's a good man, and he believes [in] the environment, the healthy people. He wants healthy people, he wants healthy food. And he's going to do it. He's going to have a big chance to do it, because we do need that."
Kennedy was initially running as a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election but dropped out to endorse Trump after he was promised a role in the administration. Before he’s confirmed to the position of HHS secretary, he will need to get past the incoming Republican-controlled Senate.
If confirmed, Kennedy would succeed Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has served under the Biden administration.
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