President-elect Donald Trump On Thursday, it picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Trump, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Social Truth.

“I am pleased to announce that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States,” he wrote. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in deception, misinformation and disinformation when it comes to public health.”

Donald Trump Jr. also shared the news on X.

During his presidential campaign, Kennedy developed a national profile for his criticism of Covid vaccines and childhood immunizations. He claimed that vaccines are linked to autismdespite the evidence handed down by studies over the decades that disproved such a claim.

The appointment of Kennedy, 70, to head HHS ends days of speculation about the health care role — if any — the former independent presidential candidate turned Trump adviser will play in the new administration.

Within HHS is a family of health agencies that includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Kennedy claimed that Trump “promised” him “control of public health agencies.”

Aside from the HHS role, Kennedy was said to have been considered for a role in combating obesity and diabetes in children — known as “Operation Warp Speed ​​​​for chronic childhood diseases” — and Kennedy himself championed the idea of ​​being a “health czar” in the White House. Those roles would not have given him the authority or influence that HHS leadership would give him if confirmed. .

Kennedy, an environmental advocate, is known for his misleading and false claims about vaccines, including repeated claims that vaccines are linked to autism, even though decades of studies in several countries have debunked the association. He also founded Children’s Health Defense, a the leader of the anti-vaccine group.

Others said to have been considered for the role included Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and Trump’s former secretary of housing and urban development, and former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who once led the Department of Health and State Hospitals.

The position requires Senate confirmation.

In a statement after Trump’s announcement, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who is the ranking member on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said: “RFK Jr. championed issues like healthy food and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure.”

He continued, “I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement: “Trump’s health care agenda is no secret: worse health care at a higher cost for American families.” He said Kennedy’s “outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should concern all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children.”

If Kennedy is confirmed, his role could represent a sea change for federal health agencies, including the FDA, where he has threatened to eliminate entire departments and fire agency employees fighting the “public health war.”

A former CDC interim director, Dr. Richard Besser, was stunned by the announcement.

“I’m speechless,” Besser said. “To have someone running the Department of Health and Human Services who has been one of the biggest purveyors of misinformation about vaccines, one of the biggest purveyors of misinformation about public health in general, would put the health of people in the whole country.”

NBC News reported On Thursday, some FDA employees considered quick exits should Kennedy be tapped for a prominent health role.

Kennedy also suggested that would ban fluoride in drinking wateras well as removing ultra-processed foods from US diets.

In the first administration, Trump tapped former pharmaceutical director Alex Azar for the primary role of health agency. Azar replaced Trump’s first health secretary, Tom Price, who resigned over the use of private jets for government business, costing American taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

CNBC reported that shares of vaccine makers fell on Thursday over reports that Kennedy could lead the largest US health agency

Erika Edwards and Zoë Richards contributed.

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