Robert F Kennedy Jr has promised to Make America Healthy Again. Today the senate waved through his appointment as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, meaning he will oversee the world’s biggest public health agency. There were some roadblocks along the way: Republicans and Democrats alike expressed concern over Kennedy’s history of pushing vaccine conspiracies and flip-flopping on abortion rights, while more than 15,000 US doctors signed an open letter opposing his nomination. In the end, the vote fell along party lines, with 14 Republicans supporting the nomination and 13 Democrats opposing it.
Kennedy has promised to “ignite a health revolution in America” and, with the 80,000 staffers and $1.7 trillion budget of the Department of Health and Human Services at his disposal, his firepower is huge. He is difficult to pigeonhole. Until 2023 he was a Democrat, like his uncle John F Kennedy. He then ran as an independent in the 2024 presidential campaign before dropping out and backing Trump. He had a long career as an environmental lawyer but is more notable nowadays as a conspiracy theorist. Many would see the ideas he promotes around health and eating as woo-woo: he backs “alternative and holistic approaches”, rails against vaccines, and wants to increase access to weed and psychedelics. Yet many of his policies seem common sense, from encouraging sustainable, organic farming to fighting corporate greed.
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