Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this morning. Kennedy has faced heavy scrutiny and criticism since announcing his third-party presidential campaign. That scrutiny and attention only intensified after he endorsed Donald Trump for president, shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Kennedy expressed his desire to reform federal health agencies and solve the chronic disease epidemic. During an interview with Tucker Carlson, Kennedy said, “You know, my uncle was president, and I was a 10-year-old boy. The rate of chronic disease in this country was 6%. Today it’s 60%. When my uncle was president, we spent zero on chronic disease in this country. There were no drugs to treat it. Today we spend 4.3 trillion, 4.3 trillion, that’s five times our military budget. It’s the largest cost to our nation, and it is bankrupting us and it is destroying us morally because we are betraying our children by letting these industries poison them.”

Kennedy has expressed his concerns regarding toxic additives and pesticides in food. He called for an end to water fluoridation in the United States following a landmark ruling against the EPA last fall. Kennedy detailed the risks of petroleum-derived food dyes and their association with hyperactivity, autoimmune injuries, depression, and ADHD. Last month, the FDA banned Red 3 more than 30 years after research showed it causes thyroid cancer when consumed by rats.

In an X post in October, Kennedy criticized corruption within the FDA and pledged major reforms upon assuming the role of HHS Secretary.

FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 25, 2024

The most contentious issue during the hearings involved Senators accusing Kennedy of being anti-vaccine and supporting conspiracy theories. During an event with Tucker Carlson in the fall, Kennedy spoke about President Trump, saying, “He doesn’t want me to take vaccines away from people. If you want to take a vaccine, you ought to be able to take it. We believe in free choice in this country. You ought to know the risks and benefits of everything you take, and we need good science for that, and we need informed consent, and he asked me to do that and then he asked me to end the chronic disease epidemic in this country and he said and he said I want to see results measurable results in the diminishment of chronic disease within two years and I said Mr. President, I will do that.”

Kennedy has also said the public can expect radical transparency from the public health agencies with him in charge at HHS and return to “gold standard safety testing.” He said President Trump asked him to do three things:

“1. Clean up the corruption in our government heallth agencies. 2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. 3. Make American Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic.”

Kennedy said, “All of the institutions of our government have been captured by the industries that they’re supposed to regulate. The NIH, CDC, and FDA have been captured by the pharmaceutical industry and the medical cartel. People are making money on sick children and on sick Americans.”

As HHS Secretary, Kennedy will oversee several federal agencies, including the CDC, FDA, and NIH. Former Rep Dave Wheldon, MD is the nominee for the CDC, Marty Makary, MD, MPH is the nominee for FDA. Jay Bhattacharya, author of the Great Barrington Declaration, is the nominee for the NIH.

The Administration for Children and Families is another agency overseen by HHS. The ORR falls under that agency and operates the Unaccompanied Children program, which is the program that has lost track of 300,000 migrant children. The HighWire spoke with whistleblower Tara Rodas last summer about child trafficking that has occurred as a result of this government program. Kennedy was asked about the missing children during the confirmation hearings.

“Trump has spoken to me about locating the 300,000 children who disappeared in the last 4 years,” Kennedy said. “Many have been sex trafficked… it is a blight on America’s moral authority… we need to find those kids.”

Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the Senate yesterday to serve as Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the CIA, FBI, and other agencies. Bhattacharya, Makary, Wheldon, and others are still awaiting scheduling for their confirmation hearings.