RFK Jr. Sworn In as Trump’s Health and Human Services Head (3)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services, launching a new era in health policy after the one-time presidential hopeful openly questioned the safety of widely used vaccines and promised to remove artificial food dyes from America’s food supply.

Kennedy was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon after winning Senate approval largely along party lines, 52-48.

President Donald Trump called Kennedy “a fierce advocate for the health of our children” before announcing that the US would establish a commission to investigate the increase in chronic illnesses.

Kennedy had faced two tense confirmation hearings in which he was questioned over his flip on abortion policy and the possibility he could dismantle America’s vaccine infrastructure.

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Senate majority leader, was the only Republican to vote against Kennedy, who has been a vaccine critic.

“I’m a survivor of childhood polio,” McConnell said in a statement. “In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures.”

Kennedy first ran as a Democrat before switching to a third party and eventually suspending his campaign to back Trump. He will now have influence over the Food and Drug Administration, which decides whether to approve cutting-edge medical treatments, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which makes recommendations for vaccine use and public health.

HHS also has a widespread reach into the daily lives and health of Americans through its control over federal insurance programs for elderly and lower-income citizens.

Read More: Why Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Position Is So Worrying: QuickTake

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has questioned Kennedy during his hearings about earnings from legal work against vaccine makers, said after the confirmation vote that making him HHS head was “a huge mistake.”

“When dangerous diseases resurface and people can’t access lifesaving vaccines, all Americans will suffer,” she said in a statement. “And thanks to his serious, unresolved conflicts of interest, RFK Jr.’s family could continue getting richer from his anti-vaccine crusade while he’s in office.”

Elisa Wells, cofounder and codirector of Plan C, which promotes access to abortion pills, expressed concern that Kennedy could go after those medications.

“Kennedy’s lack of respect for scientific data, and clear capitulation to Trump’s agenda, will create a dangerous situation for anyone who finds themselves pregnant when they don’t want to be,” she said in a statement.

During the Senate hearings, Republican Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, initially wavered on moving Kennedy’s nomination to a full vote and then relented.

Cassidy, who is a doctor, said Kennedy promised to involve the senator in hiring decisions at HHS and that the agency would give Congress a 30-day notice if HHS tries to reform public vaccine guidance. Plus, Kennedy promised he will not change the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent body that sets vaccine schedules and recommendations.

Kennedy rebranded his campaign website as Make America Healthy Again after he dropped out of the presidential race, a play on Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign slogan. He drew support from vaccine skeptics, critics of additives in the US food supply and so-called “MAHA moms” — many of whom attended the hearings.

“Trump asked me to end the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again,” Kennedy said to applause from his supporters in the Senate hearing room. “I am in a unique position to do that.”

(Updates throughout with swearing in, Trump and critic comments.)

--With assistance from Tonya Garcia, John Lauerman and Akayla Gardner.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jessica Nix in New York at jnix20@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Cynthia Koons at ckoons@bloomberg.net

Anne Cronin, Magan Crane

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