President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal critic of U.S. food systems and federal nutrition scientists, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and take on the "industrial food complex."
Kennedy dropped his presidential bid and began campaigning for Trump in August under the promise he and Trump would “Make America Healthy Again.” Along the campaign trail, Kennedy and other MAHA allies have said they would fire all nutrition scientists at the Food and Drug Administration.
“We’re going to change the personnel at the agencies,” Kennedy said at an October MAHA event. “We’re going to fire on Day One, or if we can’t fire them, we’re going to ship them to a new HHS headquarters in Guam — every nutritional scientist at FDA because all of them are corrupt and all of them are complicit in the poisoning of our children.”
In his announcement, Trump said HHS will play a role in ensuring people are protected from “harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country.”
“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 in his announcement.
As secretary of the department, Kennedy would oversee the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, among other agencies. FDA regulates about 80% of the U.S. food supply; USDA oversees the safety of meat and poultry. FDA also regulates animal feed, animal drugs, and animal biotechnology.
The department also regulates Medicare and Medicaid as well as health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
In a statement on X, Kennedy said, "We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic.
"I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth."
MAHA allies of Kennedy's, including Calley Means, have also been critical of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Specifically, Means has taken issue with conflicts of interest on the committee.
HHS and USDA take recommendations from the DGAC but are ultimately responsible for crafting the final guidelines, which last for five years. The guidelines are important in shaping federal feeding programs like school meals.
Kennedy has also criticized pesticide and chemical use, and called for a review of these standards. Specifically, he’s called for a review of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. While not naming Kennedy, ag groups have warned against “misunderstandings” regarding inputs like pesticides.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest quickly opposed the nomination, and said this and any of Trump's nominees must be subject to Senate confirmation hearings and votes.
"Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is not remotely qualified for the role and should be nowhere near the science-based agencies that safeguard our nutrition, food safety, and health," said CSPI President Peter Lurie in a statement.
Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode said, "We support science and risk-based policies that further President-elect Trump’s desire to improve public health, including appointees who would further that mission. The nation’s food and agriculture industry proudly offers a legacy of increased productivity while advancing food safety."
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said on X he was excited about the pick.
"The entire nutrition regime is dominated by big corporate ag rather than human health and they do more harm than good," Polis said. "What I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health."
FDA employees are worried about the choice of Kennedy. Kavita Patel, a physician and health policy researcher who served in the Obama White House, said on MSNBC she had received messages from FDA employees who are very concerned about RFK Jr., including many who said the announcement was the push they needed to leave the agency.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
