An array of federal government officials and “Make America Healthy Again” moms met Tuesday in what was the first convening of a new commission led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The meeting, held in Washington on Tuesday afternoon, was not made public or announced before it occurred. It marked the start of a monthslong effort, birthed by President Donald Trump’s pen on Feb. 13, which aims to identify and then solve the nation’s chronic ills. The meeting was first reported by the New York Times. STAT independently verified that it took place.
Among those empaneled to the MAHA commission are domestic policy advisers, as well as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who were both in attendance Tuesday. The leaders of the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health are also appointed to the commission. Trump’s picks for those roles — Marty Makary, Dave Weldon and Jay Bhattacharya — have yet to be confirmed.
Kennedy is able to invite other members of the Trump administration to participate in the meetings, according to the text of the executive order. On Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was in attendance, as well as Kennedy adviser Vani Hari and lawyer and Trump counselor Alina Habba, according to a post on X by Kennedy ally Calley Means which shouted them out as “MAHA moms.”
STAT reached out to HHS for comment, and to the White House for more information on when the commission will meet, and whether those meetings will be public.
The group will study potential contributors to childhood chronic disease, “including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism,” the executive order said.
Within 100 days, the MAHA commission must deliver an “initial assessment” on the state of chronic disease prevalence, treatment and research, according to the EO. In 180 days, it must deliver to Trump a MAHA strategy, which can recommend cutting federal practices that are deemed ineffective at improving health, supporting existing best practices, or recommending new solutions altogether.
Trump promised in campaign materials to establish a presidential commission investigating the causes of chronic diseases in the nation. Kennedy, during his confirmation hearings, vowed to make his agency more transparent. However, the closed-door MAHA commission meeting continues a trend of secrecy at the Department of Health and Human Services in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, Kennedy ended a decades-long practice of involving the public in a wide range of HHS business, drawing pushback from public access watchdogs and patient advocacy groups.