Fighting chronic disease, improving children’s health, and addressing corporate capture of government agencies are Kennedy’s passions.
In his bid to grow his “make America healthy again” movement, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has highlighted the chronic disease epidemic in the United States as well as what he calls corporate corruption of government agencies.
On Nov. 14, he took one step closer to tackling those issues when he was chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The post requires Senate confirmation, a procedure that could become easier when Republicans take the majority in the chamber in January.
Responding to Trump’s Nov. 14 announcement, Kennedy wrote on X that, “Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families.”
When Kennedy ended his independent presidential bid on Aug. 23 and endorsed Trump, he briefly outlined his plan should he be selected for a health-related post in the Trump administration.
“America can get healthy again. To do that we need to do three things. First, root out the corruption in our health agencies. Second, change the incentives of the health care system. And third, inspire Americans to get healthy again,” Kennedy said in a speech in Arizona.
Created in 1979, HHS manages 13 separate agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Kennedy has talked about a number of other ideas to implement, some that would require presidential or congressional action, and some that can be authorized by emergency powers.
“I’m going to urge President Trump on day one to do the same thing they did in COVID, which is to declare a national emergency, but not for infectious disease, but for chronic disease,” Kennedy said at a town hall in Michigan on Sept. 26.
Here are five plans Kennedy has said he would like bring to reality:
- Staff Changes
- Chemicals and Ultra-Processed Foods
- Corporate Capture of Agencies
- Vaccines
- Fluoride
