Economic attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS), received more than 300 letters of support from the president-elect Donald Trump.
The brave pursuit of truth through thorough investigation and open debate has always been the foundation of scientific advancement, the letter states. We want the Secretary of Health and Human Services to advocate for people who are concerned about their health, chronic diseases, health plans, and economic toxins, and who won’t avoid bringing up controversial issues.
As of Friday morning, the open letter that is still requesting petitions had 331 names endorsed it, but it doesn’t mention any organization that supports the work. Popular experts who’ve signed the document include immunization professor Dr. Robert Malone, Cleveland Clinic director Dr. Mark Hyman, and Nina Teicholz, Ph. D. in protein and a bestseller writer who promoted the text on X.
It is obvious that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes in the medical approach, the right to further research and productive discourse, regardless of whether we all agree with all of his positions and values.
A” Complicated Confirmation”
Kennedy is one of Trump’s nominees who is expected to receive a” complicated confirmation” with opposition from senators on both sides of the aisle for the cross-party cabinet pick, according to National Public Radio ( NPR ) on Tuesday. Hawaii Democrat Governor Josh Green, a doctor, called Kennedy “dangerous” in a January op-ed for The New York Times over the nominee’s condemnation of vaccines, while original Republican Vice President Mike Pence urged senators to vote no on Kennedy over contraception.
Pence, who has supported the Republican Party and our nominations for decades, said,” I believe the election of RFK Jr. to function as Secretary of HHS is a sudden departure from the pro-life history of our management.”
In an interview with The Federalist last year, however, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin who featured Kennedy at a Senate roundtable on diet last fall, said he was” also positive” that Trump’s pull for HHS may be confirmed. Johnson, a part of the Senate Finance Committee that was assigned to decide the election first, yet expressed hope that Kennedy might be able to take votes from Liberals after a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Given the cross attractiveness of Kennedy among members of both parties, members of the approaching administration’s transition team are also optimistic, according to Semafor’s report last week. Americans of all political stripes generally agree with Kennedy’s plan platform, despite racial differences in his own views.
More than two-thirds of Republicans and Democrats who took part in a YouGov survey said they supported plans to outlaw some chemicals from the food supply, restrictions ultra-processed products from school meals, impose more restrictions on agricultural herbicides, fund research for holistic health care, and require nourishment courses in federally funded medical schools.
Kennedy’s support for removing fluoride from open water supplies and lifting restrictions on fresh milk received less traction among Americans. Sensators may not be able to stop him from running a nearly$ 2 trillion company despite his popular criticism of fluorine and vaccines. Dr. Nicole Saphier, a doctor, Fox News contributor, and author of the book, Make America Healthy Once, told The Federalist in an internet last week that “his well-documented mistrust towards immunizations and other health problems are a major barrier for many”.
Senators who view vaccines as a cornerstone of public health policy may be turned off by his views, she said, which could lead to a contentious confirmation hearing. Kennedy has previously made comments about vaccines, but she added that she needs to persuade doctors in the Senate and other places that this is not a ploy to win votes. Instead, she should lay out a specific plan on how he will improve the safety of vaccines and how access will not be impacted by any of his plans to put in place.
As of Friday morning, Dr. Saphier was not a signator of the letter that was circulating in support of Kennedy.
One such lawmaker Kennedy has tried to convince is Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who has been publicly critical of the HHS nominee’s views about vaccines. Cassidy said on” Fox News Sunday” three days before the pair met that Kennedy was “wrong” about vaccine safety. After the meeting, the senator from Louisiana stated to reporters that they had discussed “every possible vaccine combination,” but did not go further than post-X.
A Pro-Abortion Democrat At HHS
On the other hand, Kennedy’s pledge to reinstate pro-life protections that were in place during Trump’s first term largely dissipated Republican concerns about the hiring of a pro-abortion Democrat to lead the nation’s healthcare system. Kennedy had previously endorsed abortion during the 2024 presidential campaign, but he reversed that decision last May after learning that women can only “abort healthy, viable late-term fetuses” after learning that some women do so. Kennedy, however, did not fully embrace a pro-life platform backed by social conservatives who support a nationwide ban.
Despite Kennedy’s promise to honor Trump’s first-term agenda on abortion at HHS, a Pence-backed group is still highlighting the nominee’s past positions to urge lawmakers to oppose his confirmation. There is no reason to be confident in RFK Jr. at this time, according to the advocacy group Advancing American Freedom, which spoke to senators on Wednesday.
Dr. Saphier, however, called Kennedy’s abortion stance “moot”.
” While the Pro-Life members may oppose his Pro-Choice stance, President-elect Trump has indicated he is against a federal abortion ban so voting against RFK Jr. because of his Pro-Choice stance is a moot point and I don’t believe he will lose votes for it”, Dr. Saphier told The Federalist. In fact, she continued,” I believe RFK Jr. will be confirmed since Republicans were given a mandate by the American people, and while they may not be wholly satisfied with the nominee for HHS Secretary, a vote against him by a Republican could be politically disastrous for the Senator.”
Industry Interference
One of Kennedy’s main obstacles to confirmation will, as you can probably guess, be interference from the food and pharmaceutical industries, which he has promised to reform.
Dr. Christopher Palmer, a Harvard clinical psychiatrist who was featured at Sen. Johnson’s roundtable on nutrition last year, stated earlier this week that while he is” not an insider in terms of politics,” his” speculation is they are not likely happy about Kennedy being confirmed and they will do everything in their power to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
While Dr. Palmer might not be an insider, Tony Lyons, the president of Skyhorse Publishing and a co-founder of the American Values Political Action Committee, is. When asked how much third-party groups are spending to disrupt Kennedy’s confirmation, Lyons said” this figure is already in the millions of dollars”.
Lyons made reference to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-wing dark money organization that is currently opposing Kennedy’s cabinet nomination after backing his independent presidential campaign, specifically.
According to Lyons,” It has already been confirmed that the Sixteen Thirty Fund has engaged in lobbying activities for more than$ 1 million.” This is only one of the many organizations trying to derail President-elect Trump’s promise to put Kennedy in charge of a health revolution that will determine the country’s future.
The soda industry was already sending powerful Washington lobbyists to Capitol Hill in December, according to The Wall Street Journal, to save billions in taxpayer subsidies for sugary beverages made available for purchase through federal food stamps.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Coke is looking to employ additional lobbyists from among a small and exclusive group who have close relationships with Trump. ” Lobbyists for the big soda companies are also trying to get in front of people close to Kennedy and Brooke Rollins, Trump’s nominee to head the Agriculture Department, which administers]Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ] benefits”.
” Once confirmed, lobbying against Kennedy and his reforms will become a permanent feature in Washington”, Lyons told The Federalist. ” This is red meat for the swamp. In reality, Kennedy’s reforms will save the typical American hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year on medical expenses. His emphasis on exercise and nutrition is in danger of harming major corporate and political interests that have gained a foothold in the” sick” industry.
