Between now and Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies will have the Herculean task of appointing 4,000 people to his administration staff. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s campaign surrogate and “Make America Healthy Again” standard-bearer, appears poised to exert broad influence over who will lead the nation’s health agencies. He has already started soliciting nominations – albeit in an unconventional way.

It’s still unclear whether Kennedy himself will end up at the Department of Health and Human Services or elsewhere, and so whoever recommends him is an even more uncertain prospect. But that didn’t stop Kennedy from launching a web page to gather potential appointees for government roles. So far, people’s choices are MAHA standard rate of unconventional influencers, wellness entrepreneurs and doctors with dubious claims to fame.

The public page, called “Nominated for the People,” allows anyone to submit names for consideration (apparently there is some analysis to avoid The Boaty McBoatface situation). Kennedy announced his launch in a tweet right before election day. Users can vote and comment on nominations, while moderators handle the more daunting tasks of flagging incomplete forms and grouping redundant submissions. The page uses an open-source platform created by the company Discourse.

Not surprisingly, many users want to see Kennedy in a leadership position, such as HHS secretary. That idea seems fragile after comments last week by Trump transition chief Howard Lutnick. However, if Kennedy really gets it to “go wild” On health, he may look to people his supporters like, including doctors who have promoted Covid misinformation, prominent anti-vaccine influencers, and others with a grudge against the scientific establishment. STAT has reached out to Trump’s transition team for comment about the site.

Casey meansfunctional medicine physician focused on nutrition, is a popular nominee on the portal. She is reportedly being considered for a job with the Food and Drug Administration, but STAT has not independently confirmed that claim.

Among the site’s top nominees is Simone Gold, who founded America’s Frontline Doctors, a group of right-wing doctors who have criticized vaccines and Covid protocols and recommended ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as Covid treatments. Large studies and meta-analyses have failed to support their use. (However, increasing interest in hydroxychloroquine in 2020 made it difficult for many patients who had taken the drug to obtain supplies.)

Gold gained more influence among her fans when she was sentenced to two months in prison for trespassing into the US Capitol on January 6 after Trump lost in 2020. Earlier this year, Gold was reprimanded by the Medical Board of California for taking part in the insurrection.

Like many in the MAHA sphere, Gold also has a health-related business. In 2022, he started a subscription-based wellness and telehealth service called GoldCare. “We provide a gateway to exit the Medical Industrial Complex, removing conflicts of interest from government and insurance, providing a path to wellness rather than managed disease, and putting you in charge of your health,” the website says.

As of Friday afternoon, Gold had received 610 votes on the MAHA nomination portal.

The vaccine haters

Kennedy fans also support other doctors who became famous for opposing public health guidance during the pandemic. Some want to see their persecuted icons ascend to the public health headlines that previously ostracized Covid-deniers and vaccine skeptics – a form of poetic justice.

Pierre Kory is one of these figures. He is the president of the Frontline Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance and promoted ivermectin before turning against vaccines, conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies. His book, The War on Ivermectin, was published under an imprint headed by friend Kennedy Tony Lyonswho also started a pro-Kennedy PAC. Earlier this year, the American Board of Internal Medicine revoked Kory’s certification for promoting misinformation.

Cardiologist Peter McCullough has become Internet famous as a Covid naysayer, trading his job as assistant chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center for a podcast and 1.1 million followers on X. He speaks out against Covid mRNA vaccines and tweeted Friday that the shutdown. Childhood vaccination against Covid “should be TOP #MAHA priority over trans fats and fluoride.”

His McCullough Foundation does the work behind the scenes: it produces a wide range of media, funds infectious disease research, advises lawmakers on policy, and provides legal aid in cases where doctors have lost their jobs for spreading misinformation.

Sherri Tenpenny fits the bill as an anti-vaccine activist and osteopathic physician. She promoted the unsupported idea that vaccines cause autism and gained notoriety when she told Ohio lawmakers that Covid vaccines made people who received them “magnetic” and connected to cell phone towers. The Ohio State Medical Board revoked his license for failing to cooperate with an investigation. Era quickly restored.

“It’s an incredible honor to be nominated for roles in America’s Health and the Department of Health and Human Services,” Tenpenny posted on Instagram Thursday, urging her nearly 70,000 followers to vote for her on the MAHA website. She continues to run an osteopathy clinic and sell supplements.

The wild cards

A competitor that appeared seemingly overnight is the social media influencer Gretchen Adler. As the founder of Gretchy, Adler shares recipes and tips for following an “ancestral diet” — avoiding seed oils, artificial sugars, colors and preservatives “at all costs.” She is part of a generation of online “professional wives,” or traditional wives, who use soothing vocal delivery, elaborate cooking projects, and aesthetically pleasing surroundings to promote a return to domesticity. Nearly 700 people voted online for Adler to be named to HHS as of Friday afternoon.

If Kennedy’s followers could choose new FDA leadership, it appears their top choice would be Zen Honeycutt, founding executive director of the nonprofit Moms Across America. Almost 900 users voted for his nomination by Friday. Honeycutt’s group focuses on environmental toxins and got Costco to stop selling Roundup weed. (Kennedy served as a lawyer in cases against RoundUp maker Monsanto.)

Honeycutt promotes the use of certain diets to cure “food allergies, autism symptoms, and asthma.” She also appeared in videos by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy.

A final wild card, Joel Salatin, says he has already been offered a position as an adviser to the Department of Agriculture. A self-labeled “Christian, libertarian, eco-capitalist crazy farmer,” Salatin and his style of farming have gained traction in online wellness circles. Kennedy spoke about the need to invest in regenerative agriculture and small organic farmers.

In a blog post about the supposed job offer, Salatin blasted his enemies: income taxes, Big Agriculture, federal involvement in education, government lobbyists and public health officials.

“This is a watershed moment to take a creative, serious look at our nation’s sacred cows and grill some serious burgers,” he wrote.

STAT coverage of chronic health problems is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropy. Our financial supporters they are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.