Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as President Donald Trump's Secretary of Health after a closely contested Senate vote. The well-known vaccine skeptic will control up to $1.7 trillion in federal spending, as well as vaccine recommendations, food safety, and healthcare programs for approximately half of the U.S. population.
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03-06, 2025Despite reservations about Kennedy's views on vaccines, almost all Republicans supported Trump's nomination, pushing the scion of one of America's most prestigious (and Democratic) political families into the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services by a vote of 52 to 48. All Democrats unanimously opposed Kennedy's appointment.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican who contracted polio as a child, was the only Republican to vote "no," consistent with his stance on Trump's nominees for Pentagon chief and Director of National Intelligence. "I am a survivor of childhood polio," McConnell said in a statement. "Throughout my life, I have seen firsthand how vaccines have saved millions of lives in America and around the world from devastating diseases."
McConnell stated, "I will not tolerate the re-litigation of settled science, and neither will the millions of Americans whose survival and quality of life are owed to scientific marvels." Hours after being sworn in, Kennedy said in his first interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham that he would launch a more robust program to more closely monitor vaccine side effects.
Republicans have largely embraced Kennedy's vision for the nation's health agencies, as well as his direction for national public health agencies to focus on chronic diseases such as obesity. Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo added that Kennedy would bring a "fresh perspective" to the position. Trump announced that Kennedy would form a new commission focused on studying chronic diseases. Kennedy stated that Trump was a blessing in his life and would also be a blessing to the country, calling him a "pivotal historical figure."
Kennedy, 71, has been in the national spotlight since childhood, his name and family tragedies making him a figure of national attention. He has gained a significant following with his populist, sometimes extreme, views on food, chemicals, and vaccines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy's audience grew as he devoted much of his time to a non-profit organization that sues vaccine manufacturers and uses social media campaigns to undermine trust in vaccines and the government agencies that promote them.
With Trump's support, Kennedy insists he is "uniquely positioned" to restore trust in these public health agencies, which include the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Last week, Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he hopes Kennedy will "swing for the fences" in controlling healthcare costs and improving the health of Americans.
But before agreeing to support Kennedy, potential Republican objector Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor who heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, required Kennedy to guarantee that he would not change existing vaccine recommendations. During a Senate hearing, Democrats tried to get Kennedy to disavow a long-debunked theory that vaccines cause autism.
Some lawmakers also expressed concern about Kennedy profiting financially from changing vaccine guidelines or weakening federal protections against lawsuits for vaccine manufacturers. Last year, Kennedy earned more than $850,000 by referring clients to a law firm suing the manufacturer of Gardasil, a human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. If confirmed as Secretary of Health, he pledged to transfer the fees collected from this arrangement to his son.
Kennedy will take over the agency at a time of massive reorganization within the federal government, led by billionaire Elon Musk, which has cut off (even temporarily) billions of dollars in public health funding and left thousands of federal workers uncertain about their jobs. Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced it would limit billions of dollars in medical research funding to universities and cancer research institutions, funds used to develop treatments for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.
Kennedy has also called for personnel changes at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, he pledged to fire 600 employees from the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the United States. Kennedy said on his Fox News program that he plans to replace those within the Department of Health and Human Services and its subordinate agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, who have "made very bad decisions" regarding nutritional guidelines and Alzheimer's treatments.
"I have a list in my head," Kennedy said, referring to potential firings at the agency.
