President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Trump, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Donald Trump Jr. shared the news on X, and a source familiar confirmed it with NBC News.
During his presidential campaign, Kennedy developed a national profile for his criticism of the Covid vaccine and childhood immunizations. He has claimed that vaccines are tied to autism, despite evidence conveyed through studies over decades that have disproven such a claim.
The appointment of Kennedy, 70, to lead HHS ends days of speculation about what health role — if any — the former independent presidential candidate turned Trump advisor would play in the incoming administration.
Within HHS is a family of health agencies that includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Kennedy has claimed Trump “promised” him “control of the public health agencies.”
Apart from the HHS role, Kennedy was said to be considered for a role of tackling obesity and diabetes in kids — known as “Operation Warp Speed for childhood chronic disease” — and Kennedy himself floated the idea of being a White House “health czar.” It’s unclear if any of those roles would give him the authority or influence that heading HHS could offer.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is known for his misleading and false claims on vaccines, including repeated assertions that vaccines are linked to autism, even though for decades numerous studies across several countries have debunked the association. He also founded Children’s Health Defense, a leading anti-vaccine group.
Other people said to be considered for the role were Trump’s former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and retired neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, and Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who once led the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals.
If confirmed, Kennedy’s role might spell a major shakeup for the federal health agencies, including the FDA, where Kennedy has threatened to eliminate entire departments and fire agency employees who wage “war on public health.”
On Thursday, NBC News reported that some FDA staff were considering a quick exit should Kennedy be selected for a prominent health role.
Kennedy has also suggested that he would ban fluoride in drinking water as well as strip ultra-processed foods from Americans’ diets.
In the first Trump administration, the president tapped former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar to the top health agency role. Azar replaced the first Trump-appointed health secretary Tom Price, who resigned over his use of private jets for government business, costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollar.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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