Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Currently, some of Trump’s allies are putting forward a short list of candidates to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Several people close to Trump said, President-elect the campaign said.
Hopes among Kennedy’s supporters that he could be nominated to lead the department have grown in recent days after Republicans solidified their position. Senate majority.
Kennedy’s chances of passage in a Democratic-led Senate are low, given his long record in the Democratic-led Senate. “Anti-science, fringe public health stance” That angered Trump’s opponents and many health experts during the campaign.
This includes a comment “There is no safe and effective vaccine,” said the group, which he serves as president of Advocate for Children’s Health, which claims “the parallels between the rise in disease rates and the increase in the number of childhood vaccines are hard to ignore.” Doctors believe such claims mislead about the safety of immunizations and risk undermining America’s hard-won progress vaccination rate Prevent preventable diseases.
Kennedy himself was noncommittal when asked publicly about his potential selection to head the Department of Health and Human Services’ vast agency, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Food and Drug Administration Administration.
On the eve of the election, Kennedy Tell Fox News said he “believes that if I want to be secretary of Health and Human Services, the president will do whatever it takes to make it happen,” but also said he’s not sure if that’s “most effective” for him Role.
In an interview with CNN last month, Trump transition co-chairman Howard Lutnick was asked whether Kennedy would run the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Of course not,” he Replied.
But two people familiar with the campaign said the election results played an important role in changing perceptions about whether Kennedy can survive a steep and often painful Senate confirmation process that could leave the nominee in limbo.
Kennedy supporters believe the election provided a mandate not only for Trump’s overall platform but also for Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” proposal to combat chronic disease, citing the potential for Kennedy to bring Trump of votes.
For example, podcast host Joe Rogan initially Sound support Support Kennedy and his ideas before later supporting Trump.
“We haven’t decided exactly what that strategy is, but it’s a possibility,” Kennedy told NPR. interview After the election, he was asked if he would be appointed to a Senate-confirmed position.
As for whether Kennedy is now in a tight race to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt said in a statement that the American was “re-elected by a huge margin.” Trump because they trust his judgment and support his policies, including his promise to “make America healthy again” alongside respected leaders like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “
Other potential HHS secretary candidates
However, Kennedy is not the only Republican candidate to run for the top job at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggestion On Wednesday, his top health official, the state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapomay be a candidate. below Ladapthe state’s health department has warn some people Opposition to getting COVID-19 booster shots amid criticism from federal health authorities and outside experts unsubstantiated or misleading.
Other names floated by Trump’s allies in Washington include the former Louisiana governor. Bobby Jindal and former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Eric Hagensupporters believe he can be effective because he knows how to navigate the department’s bureaucracy.
But people close to the campaign say few Trump surrogates and supporters have spent as much time with the president-elect as Kennedy or developed such an ambitious agenda.
During the final stretch of the campaign, the two flew together for several hours. After the election, Kennedy was also in Florida, gathering with the president-elect’s top brass to weigh potential candidates to fill the vacancies in the administration.
“He’s going to help America be healthy again. He’s a great man and he means business. He wants to do something and we’ll let him do it,” Trump explain Wednesday morning after the election.
Trump has previously said he has been friends with Kennedy “for a long time” and would drive him “crazy” on many policy priorities, in addition to curbing fossil fuels.
“I’m going to make him crazy on health. I’m going to make him crazy on food. I’m going to make him crazy on drugs. I think the only thing I’m not going to let him near is the liquid gold at our feet.” Trump general explain October 27 in New York.
Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform
Kennedy’s nomination would come at a critical time on many of the issues he campaigned on and which he said were foundational “The Chronic Disease Crisis.”
Kennedy accused the FDA of “aggressive suppression” of a range of products, including Hallucinogens – back Ecstasy fails received approval from the agency earlier this year – and raw milkwhich officials have discouraged Avian influenza outbreaks continue on dairy farms.
Other proposals include limiting drug advertising and rewriting laws that currently rely on payments from drugmakers to fund most FDA approvals. Before the election, he warned FDA officials “who are part of this corrupt system” to “pack their bags.”
Days before the election, Kennedy said Trump had asked him to “root out corruption and conflicts of interest” in drug and vaccine watchdog agencies and pledged to “restore transparency” and stop “hiding science.”
“He doesn’t want me to take the vaccine away from people. If you want to get vaccinated, you should be able to get it. We believe in free choice in this country,” Kennedy said Comment Published on November 2nd.
He called for a stop water fluoridation The Environmental Protection Agency is now faced with court order Take action against this practice.
The ruling was based in part on review The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a study earlier this year examining the risk of it lowering children’s IQs, while critics called on the CDC to revise its study. statement Supports fluoridation. A review by the National Institutes of Health found that higher-than-recommended levels of fluoride in drinking water are linked to lower IQs in children, but more research is needed to understand the effects of lower fluoride levels.
But if he eventually becomes Secretary of Health and Human Services, some of Kennedy’s goals will be beyond his purview, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some allies worry that other responsibilities within the Department of Health and Human Services could take up much of Kennedy’s time and distract him from his priorities.
“Bobby is very action-oriented, talented, an excellent communicator, has a strong grasp of detail and is a transformational leader. He is not, his skillset is not that of a bureaucratic manager,” said longtime Robert Dr. Malone said. Kennedy’s allies were with him and Trump on election night.
Malone said he had discussed the department’s future with a number of aides from “at least four different HHS transition teams” under Trump in recent weeks but had not spoken with Kennedy personally.
He said he thought Kennedy might have been better served in a White House role as a czar who could target specific issues in different departments.
“There is no doubt that what is being discussed is a major reimagining of the entire federal health research and promotion and protection infrastructure. That includes very significant reforms and changes to business practices,” Malone said.
