Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since mid-February.
Despite being new to the job, Kennedy has made more statements to provoke public outrage than any HHS secretary in history.
One example is when Kennedy once stated the measles vaccine (usually part of the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine) causes “all the illness of the virus” and results in “deaths every year.” When measles broke out in Texas and New Mexico, Kennedy praised the measles vaccine. Kennedy later claimed “autism destroys families,” while promising to find its cause by September.
Kennedy once said “autism destroys families” while promising to find its cause by this September. Most recently, Kennedy announced that COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are no longer recommended for children and pregnant women. autism
Kennedy hinted he might prevent some scientists from publishing medical research in select academic journals. Ironically, Kennedy warned, “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”
These and other eye-raising statements leave many of his contemporaries questioning his motives and ability to lead HHS. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote, “RFK Jr. is unqualified, unfit, and dangerous to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.”
Under the Guise of Emergency
Rather than question his qualifications, we should be asking how RFK Jr. has the audacity to make the pronouncements he does. Kennedy has launched a series of initiatives to “make America healthy again.” Until very recently, these authorities were distributed to HHS’s sub-agencies, who have always enjoyed considerable autonomy.
This seemingly limitless authority can be traced back to one of the things Kennedy has criticized the most: Operation Warp Speed.
On May 15, 2020, during his first term, President Donald Trump launched Operation Warp Speed to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to market as quickly as possible. The mission established an unprecedented partnership between federal regulatory agencies and private vaccine producers.
That September, in a preemptive effort to stop the FDA from slowing experimental vaccines from receiving emergency use authorization, then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar issued an order stating, “any prior delegation of rulemaking authority [to HHS sub-agencies], including the authority to sign or issue a rule or a proposed rule, is rescinded.”
Big Government Tradeoff
The effort failed. After two COVID-19 vaccines cleared Operation Warp Speed’s guidelines, the FDA circumvented the order and assembled a special advisory council. The council delayed the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines for patients by 26 days.
Furthermore, as many had warned, the effort resulted in a “power grab” that dramatically concentrated regulatory authority in HHS. Not only did this order remain in place after the pandemic, but those in power have since taken full advantage.
In 2022, under the Biden administration, HHS gained authority to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, previously tasked to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Shortly after, HHS launched its Maternal Mental Health Hotline. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration had already been providing this. HHS has also made numerous efforts and initiatives to address drug shortages, which historically was the FDA’s job.
‘Go Wild’
Recent job cuts to many public health agencies have also worked to “centralize” HHS’s—and of RFK Jr.’s— authority over “core functions, such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, External Affairs, and Policy,” according to the HHS March 27 news release.
The press release describes plans to assemble an Administration for a Healthy America, and a consolidation effort to cut 28 divisions into 15.
The greatest threat to public health is not RFK Jr.’s viewpoints. It’s the concentration of power given to HSS and anyone who directs it. Concerningly, as President Trump promised, HHS may be about to “go wild.”
Raymond J. March ([email protected]) is a research fellow and director of FDAReview.org at the Independent Institute, and a faculty member at North Dakota State University. A version of this article was published by the Independent Institute. Reprinted with permission.
