Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He is currently on the shortlist of some Trump allies to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to people close to the president-elect’s campaign.
Expectations that he would be nominated to lead the department have grown in recent days as the Republican Party strengthened its support of Kennedy loyalists. majority of the senate.
Kennedy has long held what the party calls “anti-science, fringe public health positions” that infuriated Trump’s opponents and a wide range of health experts during the campaign. Given this, Kennedy’s chances of passing the bill in a Democratic-led Senate would have been low.
Among them were comments such as “There are no safe and effective vaccines,” and the group “Children’s Health Defense,” which argued that “the parallelism between rising disease rates and increasing numbers of childhood vaccinations cannot be ignored.” This includes his chairmanship. Doctors say such statements could mislead about the safety of vaccinations and undermine the progress the United States has made. vaccination rate against preventable diseases.
President Kennedy himself was publicly asked about his chances of being chosen to lead vast health care agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Food and Drug Administration. It wasn’t proactive. management.
Before the election, Kennedy told Fox News, “If I wanted to be HHS secretary, I’m confident that the president would fight tooth and nail to make that happen,” but that he thought it would be “the most effective.” He also said that he did not know whether it was a “target” or not. role for him.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s transition co-chair, was asked in a CNN interview last month whether Kennedy would lead HHS.
“Of course not,” he replied.
But two people close to the campaign said the results of the election could change their minds about whether Mr. Kennedy can clear the steep and often painful Senate confirmation process that can bog down candidates. He says that he played a major role.
Kennedy supporters, citing the possibility that Kennedy may have voted in Trump’s favor, argue that the election is not just about Trump’s overall platform, but also about Kennedy and his “transforming America” efforts to fight chronic disease. He claims that his proposal to “make people healthy again” also gives them a mission.
As an example, podcast host Joe Rogan initially expressed support for Kennedy and his ideas, then later supported Trump.
In an interview with NPR after the election, Kennedy was asked if he would be appointed to a Senate-confirmed position, saying, “We haven’t decided exactly what that strategy will be yet, but it’s a possibility.” Ta.
Regarding the question of whether Mr. Kennedy is now seriously vying for the HHS secretary position, Trump-Vance transition press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a statement that Americans trust Mr. Trump’s judgment and have included his commitments. He said that he was “re-elected by a large margin” because of his support for the policy. To make America healthy again with respected leaders like RFK Jr. ”
Other candidates for HHS Secretary
But Kennedy is not the only Republican to name a top HHS post.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated Wednesday that the state’s top health official, the state’s surgeon general, will take over. Dr. Joseph Ladapomay be a candidate. under Radapothe state health department said. warned some people They argued against receiving a booster shot against the coronavirus, citing claims criticized by federal health officials and outside experts: unproven or misleading.
Other Trump supporters in Washington named include former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former HHS deputy secretary Eric Hagan, who has successfully navigated the Health Department’s bureaucracy. Advocates believe they can be effective because they know how to manipulate.
But people close to the campaign say few of Trump’s surrogates or allies have spent as much time with the president-elect or designed policies as ambitious as Kennedy.
The two flew together for many hours during the final stages of the operation. Mr. Kennedy also visited Florida after the election, where he mingled with the president-elect’s top executives and considered potential candidates for the administration.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again,” Trump said Wednesday morning after the election. “And he’s a great guy and he means it. He wants to do some things. We’re going to let him do it.”
Trump previously said he was a “long-time” friend of Kennedy and would give him “free rein” on many of Kennedy’s policy priorities, except cutting fossil fuels.
“I’m going to get him crazy about health. I’m going to get him crazy about food. I’m going to get him crazy about medicine. The only thing I don’t think I’ll do is get him close.” is liquid gold beneath our feet,” President Trump said in New York on October 27.
President Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” Platform
Kennedy’s nomination comes at a critical time for many of his campaign issues, which he claims support the “chronic disease crisis.”
President Kennedy accused the FDA of “aggressive suppression” of various products containing psychedelics. MDMA failed to gain agency approval earlier this year—and raw milkthe official has disappointed Avian influenza outbreaks continue on dairy farms.
Other proposals include restricting drug advertising and changing laws that currently rely on drug companies paying fees to fund most FDA approvals. Ahead of the election, he warned FDA officials who are “part of this corrupt system” to “pack up.”
Days before the election, Kennedy said Trump had called on him to “root out corruption and conflicts of interest” in agencies that oversee medicines and vaccines, vowing to “restore transparency” and stop “covering up science.” I promised.
“The President does not want me to take vaccines away from people. If you want to get the vaccine, you should be able to get it. We believe in freedom of choice in this country,” Kennedy said in a statement posted on Nov. 2. ” .
his call to stop water fluoridation With the Environmental Protection Agency currently facing challenges, court order Take action against the practice.
The ruling was based in part on findings published by the NIH earlier this year examining the risks of lowering children’s IQ, and critics have called on the CDC to amend its statement supporting fluoridation. It was served inside. NIH review found that fluoride levels in drinking water higher than recommended levels are associated with lower IQ in children, but the effects of lower concentrations of fluoride require further research is.
But if he eventually becomes secretary of the Department of Health, some of Kennedy’s objectives, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will be outside his purview. Some allies are concerned that other responsibilities under the broader HHS umbrella could consume much of Kennedy’s time and distract him from his priorities.
“Bobby is very action-oriented, intelligent, a great communicator, has a good grasp of details, and is a transformational leader. He is not, and his skill set is not that of a bureaucratic manager. “It’s not suitable for that,” said longtime Dr. Robert Malone. Kennedy allies who were with him and Trump on election night.
Malone said he has discussed the department’s future in recent weeks with many of his top aides, some of whom were part of “at least four different HHS transition teams” under the Trump administration, but not with Kennedy personally.
He said he believed Kennedy would likely be better served in the White House as a czar who could target specific issues across departments.
“Make no mistake about it. What is being discussed is a major overhaul of the entire federal health research, promotion and protection infrastructure. This includes very significant reforms and changes in business practices.” Mr. Malone said.
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