Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives for a gathering with Senators within the Russell Senate Workplace Constructing on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on Capitol Hill this week, attempting to persuade senators that they need to greenlight him to steer the Division of Well being and Human Companies, forward of anticipated affirmation hearings.
Kennedy — who initially ran for president as a Democrat within the main and an Unbiased within the basic election earlier than dropping out and endorsing Trump — is maybe finest identified for his vaccine skepticism and for spreading misinformation in regards to the security of vaccines. He is additionally a fierce critic of the pharmaceutical business, processed meals and water fluoridation.
Kennedy has by no means labored in well being care or the federal authorities, however he is change into outspoken on a variety of well being care points which have now coalesced underneath the banner of the “Make America Wholesome Once more” motion. He has mentioned he needs to hearth lots of of profession staffers on the Meals and Drug Administration and on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, and shift federal analysis funding from infectious illness to persistent illness and weight problems.
If confirmed, Kennedy could be in control of a $1.7 trillion company with energy over regulating meals and medicines, funding groundbreaking analysis and setting vaccine suggestions. He would additionally oversee Medicare, Medicaid and the Reasonably priced Care Act, which account for practically 90% of the division’s finances and supply medical insurance to just about 170 million Individuals.
Kennedy’s views have led to a combined response throughout the political spectrum. Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis praised the decide, and New Jersey’s Democratic Sen. Cory Booker acknowledged his frequent floor with Kennedy on the unhealthy U.S. meals system. In distinction, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden mentioned Kennedy’s “outlandish views … ought to fear all mother and father,” and former New York Metropolis mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says Kennedy could be “past harmful” as well being secretary.
On the opposite aspect of the aisle, Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson known as Kennedy a “good, brave truth-teller,” whereas former Republican Vice President Mike Pence urged senators to reject Kennedy’s nomination over his help for abortion rights.
Kathleen Sebelius, who led HHS underneath President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2014 talked with the well being coverage podcast Tradeoffs in regards to the energy of the place, and the checks and balances Kennedy could face in enacting a few of his priorities.
“The [HHS] secretary is able to do a variety of good, but in addition probably do a variety of hurt,” she mentioned.
Kathleen Sebelius on Might 6, 2014 in Nationwide Harbor, Md.
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Listed below are highlights from that dialog, edited for size and readability:
On the position of the HHS secretary
[The secretary] is the [federal government’s] public spokesperson for well being and wellness, not solely in America however all over the world, as a result of America has an enormous position in international well being and in partnering with different nations.
Numerous the position of secretary is successful hearts and minds, as a result of I can assure you nothing will get performed in a federal company except a variety of the employees in that company imagine that they are a part of the mission. I spent a great deal of time in the beginning of my tenure actually bodily visiting every company … having lunch with folks on the bottom.
I might by no means have performed the job with any measure of success with out studying one thing from actually gifted folks. Having folks come ahead and say, you recognize, it’s possible you’ll not have thought of this, however how about this? That sort of administration, I feel, in any huge group works nicely. Not that you simply arrive with the solutions, however that you simply truly study one thing in regards to the group that you simply’re requested to steer.
On how a lot energy the HHS secretary wields
[The job] may be wildly highly effective and unpowerful on the similar time. Many of the energy within the company, many of the administrative authority comes from legal guidelines that Congress has handed, and the company is then requested to write down guidelines and [regulations] and implement these legal guidelines. What I discovered is that there have been a variety of areas the place the company had administrative energy that that they had by no means used.
One of many areas that [we] recognized inside HHS was a variety of alternative to make a distinction with LGBTQ residents in america. I imply, throughout the board, there have been guidelines and regs in place that had been very limiting. So we started to redefine what a member of the family was. This was nicely earlier than the wedding resolution and Supreme Courtroom and others. We had companions who had been long-time residing collectively and weren’t allowed to go to one another in a crucial care unit in a hospital as a result of they weren’t a member of a household. You could possibly truly transfer long-standing coverage. You could possibly rescind what a earlier administration had performed. You could possibly redefine phrases that had a huge effect on folks. And that could possibly be performed all administratively, not by going again to Congress.
On the boundaries of the HHS secretary’s energy
Definitely what the president needs and desires is one [limit]. I’d say there’s a congressional test, the place a lot of committees within the Home and the Senate have jurisdiction over items of the Division of Well being and Human Companies. The secretary has to undergo two Senate affirmation hearings, one with the Finance Committee and one with the HELP Committee. That is gobbledygook to lots of people, but it surely simply signifies that there are many congressional committees — three within the Home and two within the Senate — with huge curiosity in what is going on on at HHS. And to allow them to have hearings regularly. They do what’s known as oversight, calling the secretary in, calling the division in, difficult authority: Why are you doing this or that?
After which there’s a complete authorized system that may sue the division. The FDA could be very used to that. Any time they might challenge, as an illustration, a tobacco regulation, tobacco corporations would instantly file a lawsuit and gradual that down or cease it. That may be performed. When there’s any sort of reduce recommended to the hospital system, the hospital affiliation instantly goes to courtroom. So I’d say the courtroom, Congress and the president function as guardrails across the secretary’s energy.
On how a lot discretion Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must hearth lots of of profession staffers, as he has promised to
At this level, I’d say the discretion is restricted by civil service safety. Within the waning days of the final Trump administration, there was an govt order issued that might have eliminated civil service safety from a number of federal workers. I am unable to keep in mind what number of. The Biden incoming administration instantly rescinded that govt order, so it is by no means been carried out. [So, absent that] you actually cannot simply hearth people who find themselves in a protected place.
However I feel simply suggesting that you simply wish to hearth folks earlier than he is aware of something about what these people are doing, [there’s a] chance that you simply lose the perfect expertise straight away as a result of they stroll out the door. The FDA scientists are nicely sought out by business throughout the board. So simply the suggestion {that a} secretary is available in and says on the outset, I’ll do away with this division, I’ll hearth researchers at NIH, I’ll do away with these people. What that does is ship actually a chilling impact all through the division — saying we now have anyone coming in right here who does not worth us, does not like what we do. And I can let you know proper now, there are prone to be a lot of folks already having conversations about their subsequent job.
On Kennedy’s curiosity in transferring analysis priorities on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being away from infectious illnesses
NIH analysis is finished in analysis universities throughout the nation. Bobby Kennedy mentioned, let’s give infectious illnesses a break and deal with weight problems. What he clearly does not perceive is that inside the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, these are happening concurrently.
You may’t decide and select when an infectious illness goes to interrupt out. And actually, he is clearly not studying the information as a result of we’re, I feel, a yr or so away from a significant outbreak of avian flu in people. We have seen avian flu bounce from birds to cattle and from cattle to farm staff. That is only a step away from a significant outbreak of avian flu, which proper now has no vaccine. Do I would like folks to cease researching what could possibly be an efficient counter to an avian flu outbreak? Completely not. As a result of it is coming. And it is approaching a timetable that Bobby Kennedy can’t management.
On the affect that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views might have on vaccine uptake nationwide
[The CDC has] an inventory of identified childhood vaccines and makes suggestions to states. After which state governments undertake their very own vaccine listing primarily based on CDC suggestions. Some [states] have a extra strong listing, some have a slender listing. So by way of vaccine take-up … he might make very sturdy suggestions to states that they grant way more exemptions to folks, so significantly enhance the variety of youngsters who might qualify to go to highschool with out vaccines. He might encourage states to simply make [vaccines] non-obligatory.
To me, that is actually private. I’ve an 11-month-old grandson. He’s too younger to qualify for the total measles vaccination set. We reside in a pink state. He’s prone to getting measles as a result of he cannot get vaccinated. And so these are actual life penalties. I imply, youngsters might die from this sort of coverage change. And I feel the secretary might have a variety of affect. He cannot change the foundations, however he might suggest very strongly that individuals who imagine in Donald Trump ought to change the foundations.
On how she thinks senators ought to take into consideration the facility they’d be giving Kennedy in the event that they confirmed him to steer HHS
I feel they need to assume lengthy and onerous about it. Take into consideration Bobby Kennedy as secretary throughout COVID, when there’s a chance to face up Operation Warp Velocity and a COVID vaccine, which clearly saved lives. My guess is he wouldn’t have participated in that strong effort. He would have tried to throw boundaries and roadblocks and counsel to folks that they should not get the vaccine. That is an actual life instance that we simply had — and I feel was a outstanding scientific breakthrough and accomplishment — after which distinction it with this standpoint. That is a extremely harmful place to be if you’re wanting on the security and safety of U.S. residents, and also you’re taking a look at well being points that may topple our financial system.
I do not know what Donald Trump’s well being coverage is, so it is just a little complicated for me to know what to inform the senators. If [Kennedy] is allowed to, as Donald Trump has mentioned, “go wild on well being,” what does that imply? And I’d, if I had been a senator, attempt to perceive that, as a result of it is doubtless inside HHS to have a huge effect on that senator’s constituents.
Dan Gorenstein is the chief editor of Tradeoffs, a nonprofit well being coverage information group. Reporter Ryan Levi produced this story for the Tradeoffs podcast, and tailored it for the net. You may hearken to the total interview right here:
