Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as HHS Secretary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will head the nation’s health department, with the Senate voting him in as HHS Secretary in a 52 to 48 vote today. The vote fell along party lines with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky being the only Republican to cast a 'nay' vote.

Kennedy is the nephew of John F. Kennedy and the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. However, President Trump’s pick for HHS Secretary is a contentious one.

RJK Jr. started his public service career fighting for environmental causes, notably founding the Waterkeeper Alliance, a clean water advocacy group. He later established the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure, including some childhood vaccines.

Kennedy’s nomination faced a lot of criticism because of his anti-vaccine activism. Yet, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician and supporter of childhood vaccines, joined 13 other Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee to move forward Kennedy’s nomination as HHS Secretary to a wider vote last week.  A Washington Post analysis showed Kennedy disparaging vaccines, with at least Kennedy mentioning that autism is linked to vaccines at least 36 times in more than 400 podcast appearances, interviews and public speeches since 2020.

Kennedy has also linked vaccines to the rise in chronic conditions and food allergies. Medical experts tend to agree, though, that the current vaccination schedule in the US has not caused autism, food allergies or other conditions, rather it has prevented diseases.

Because of these comments and more, critics have questioned Kennedy’s ability to lead the nation’s health department, which is charged with improving the health and well-being of Americans. In fact, an open letter from physicians -- over 20,400 signed, at the time of publication -- said Kennedy “is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency—he is actively dangerous.”

However, some physicians have supported Trump’s pick for HHS Secretary. A letter signed by over 800 medical professionals supported Kennedy’s nomination although the Associated Press shortly reported that many of the signatories had had their medical licenses revoked or suspended.

As HHS Secretary, Kennedy will head the nearly $2 trillion department that oversees such agencies as CMS, CDC, FDA and the National Institutes of Health.

Jacqueline LaPointe is a graduate of Brandeis University and King's College London. She has been writing about healthcare finance and revenue cycle management since 2016.