BREAKING NEWS: Trump to Nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS Secretary
Late on Nov. 14, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. He would succeed the current HHS Secretary, Xavier Becerra, after President Joe Biden’s term ends in January.
The Washington Post stated that “President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he has selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services, the sprawling agency responsible for administering millions of Americans’ health insurance, approving drugs and medical supplies, regulating food and responding to infectious-disease outbreaks. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, is the latest Trump selection for his Cabinet who could face a contentious Senate confirmation.”
And CNBC’s Dan Mangan wrote on Thursday that “If the Senate approves Kennedy, the former independent presidential candidate will lead a sprawling department responsible for the huge Medicare and Medicaid health coverage programs, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HHS’s decisions on spending and policies have major effects on the U.S. health-care system and related businesses.”
Managan noted that “Kennedy, 70, is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, the late U.S. attorney general and Democratic senator from New York who was assassinated in 1968 by a gunman in Los Angeles as he ran for president. He is the nephew of former President John Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963. Trump said in October that if elected he would let Kennedy ‘Go wild on health.’”
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social site on Thursday that “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. 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. 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,” Trump added.
Mangan noted that “Kennedy told NBC News in a recent interview that Trump has said he wants Kennedy to ‘clean up corruption’ at federal health agencies, return those agencies to science-based policies and ‘make America healthy again.’ Kennedy said that ‘there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA, that have to go.’” Mangan also noted that “Stock prices of vaccine makers fell earlier Thursday on reports that Trump would tap Kennedy for the HHS post.”
Meanwhile, POLITICO’s Meridith McGraw and Chelsa Cirrruzzo wrote on Thursday afternoon that “The pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy ‘go wild’ with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect. It’s also a sign of the opening Trump sees after he scored a decisive electoral victory and Republicans won a comfortable majority in the Senate.”
McGraw and Cirruzzo wrote further that “Kennedy, 70, may still face a steep slope to confirmation after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism, written a book accusing former National Institutes of Health official Anthony Fauci of conspiring with tech mogul Bill Gates and drugmakers to sell Covid-19 vaccines and said regulatory officials are industry puppets who should be removed. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Kennedy will be treated like all other nominees,” they reported, and quoted Sen. Cornyn as saying that “I don’t have any preconceived notion about it.” And, they wrote, “When asked if vaccine positions might make confirmation difficult: ‘I’m sure it will come up.’”
They were able to reach House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who noted that of course, “[I]t’s up to the Senate to confirm or reject Kennedy but was skeptical that he was the right choice. ‘Is RFK Jr. the best qualified person in the United States of America to lead us forward as we grapple with an enormous amount of health challenges in this country? The answer is clearly he is not,’ Jeffries said.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberrg and Luke Broadwater wrote late on Thursday afternoon that “Mr. Kennedy’s resistance to public health measures, embrace of alternative medicine and natural foods and dissemination of false information about vaccines — including that they cause autism — suggests he would openly clash with the agencies he would oversee. In choosing Mr. Kennedy, who has no medical or public health degree, Mr. Trump is again proposing the sort of provocative staffing decision that underscores his stated desire to shatter Washington norms.” And, they added, “Lawmakers from both sides were shocked and dismayed at Mr. Trump’s plan to nominate former Representative Matt Gaetz to be the attorney general. Mr. Trump’s choices of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army veteran who has no senior command experience, as secretary of defense, and Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who switched parties as she came to back Mr. Trump, as the director of national intelligence, were also viewed as unorthodox choices.”
And CNN’s Katilan Collins, Kristen Holmes, and Aaron Pellish noted on Thursday that, “If confirmed as the top public health official in the country, Kennedy would oversee the operations of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid. Though Trump has moved away from seeking to fully repeal Obamacare, it remains to be seen whether he and his health officials will release a plan to improve the law, as Trump promised on the campaign trail.”
Further, they wrote, “Kennedy would also be involved in any changes Trump and congressional Republicans attempt to make to Medicaid, which provides health care coverage for low-income Americans. In Trump’s first term, the agency tried to institute work requirements, which was largely blocked in court, and lawmakers unsuccessfully sought to reduce the program’s funding. The program, which covers nearly 72.5 million Americans, is expected to be a target in Trump’s second term, especially as the GOP seeks savings to offset the tax relief they hope to implement.”
This is a breaking news story, and will be updated as developments warrant.
