President-elect Donald J. Trump will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead HHS, he announced Thursday on social media. If confirmed by the Senate, the antivaccine activist and former presidential candidate would wield considerable influence over the health of the nation and could deprioritize or eliminate long-standing public health initiatives.
Trump had previously vowed Kennedy, who has no medical training, “go wild” on health care areas from drug policy to food safety, with efforts like vaccination and water fluoridation representing likely targets. In his social media post, Trump promised that an HHS led by Kennedy would “play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country.”
This story will be updated.
