President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday he has selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States’ top health agency.
Kennedy ran for president in this year’s election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican’s administration. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will 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,” Trump said in a post to social media. The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the massive Medicare and Medicaid Services programs, which provide health coverage for the poor, those aged 65 and older, and the disabled.
Medicaid and Medicare’s tens of millions of enrollees mean HHS had a $3.09 trillion budget for fiscal year 2024, representing 22.8% of the U.
S. federal budget. Kennedy, the son and nephew of two titans of Democratic politics, has been a part of Trump’s transition team and has been reviewing candidate resumes for the top jobs at U.
S. health agencies. Over posts on social.
