President-elect Donald Trump has nominated vaccine skeptic and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in a controversial decision that’s expected to draw ire from some public health experts.
Trump announced the appointment on social media platform Truth Social.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote Thursday.
His role as secretary of the HHS would give him oversight over a budget of nearly $2 billion and agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is responsible for administering federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Kennedy has previously promised to overhaul the federal public health industry. “FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy wrote in October in a post on X.
Most recently, Kennedy stated he wanted to eliminate fluoride in the country’s water supply, a decision that would upend one of the nation’s largest public health initiatives. Over social media, Kennedy has also criticized what he calls an epidemic of “chronic disease,” including autism, obesity and diabetes.
Originally a candidate for president, Kennedy endorsed Trump after dropping out of the race in August. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” on healthcare.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy would succeed the Biden administration’s Secretary Xavier Becerra.