# Could RFK Jr. Really Become HHS Secretary? {Yes, he did} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451 "2024-10-30T16:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/182 "2025-04-30T23:01:31Z")
> **[RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory](https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/04/rfk-jr-s-anti-vaccine-stance-is-rooted-in-a-disbelief-in-germ-theory/)** > > In his 2021 book vilifying Anthony Fauci, RFK Jr. lays out support for an alternate theory. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/183 "2025-04-30T23:16:19Z")
Here’s a link to an interview with his sister, documentarian Kerry Kennedy. TL : DW - While she loves her brother, she definitely doesn’t agree with him on many issues, and she has the same vocal impairment that he does. > **[RFK Jr.’s Sister Kerry Kennedy Reacts After John Oliver Calls For Her...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-sister-kerry-kennedy-182700780.html)** > > “I love my brother. I think he’s dead wrong,” Kerry Kennedy said. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/184 "2025-05-01T03:01:03Z")
Betcha didn’t know that Health and Human Services was the principal agent behind child trafficking in the U.S. under Biden. Well, RFK Jr. has put a stop to that. > **[RFK Jr Pushes Conspiracy HHS Forced Kids Into Slavery](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-pushes-conspiracy-hhs-forced-kids-into-slavery/)** > > The health secretary repeated an unsubstantiated claim made by Donald Trump about missing migrant children. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/185 "2025-05-01T17:56:40Z")
> **[Trump administration releases 400-page review of gender dysphoria treatment...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/01/health/gender-affirming-care-trump-review)** > > The US Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a 400-page review of treatment for gender dysphoria in children but did not disclose who authored or reviewed the report. Just to get ahead of the obvious question: I wasn’t one of the authors. Were you?? > [@](#): > > “Contributors to the review include medical doctors, medical ethicists, and a methodologist. Contributors represent a wide range of political viewpoints and were chosen for their commitment to scientific principles,” HHS said in a news release about the review, adding that contributors’ names are not initially being made public “in order to help maintain the integrity of this process.” > > The agency said chapters of the report underwent peer review but did not specify who reviewed it. The agency also said it will undergo additional review “involving stakeholders with different perspectives” in the days ahead. I think these people have a different notion of ‘transparency’ than I do. Funny, that. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/186 "2025-05-01T18:12:37Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I think these people have a different notion of ‘transparency’ than I do. If you put a brick wall on the other side of a window, you can still say you provided a window. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/187 "2025-05-01T22:41:56Z")
We went from measles being technically eliminated to now on a path to becoming endemic. Good think we have RFK Jr at the helm. > **[The U.S. is approaching a dangerous measles precipice, scientists say](https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2025-04-25/u-s-on-track-to-lose-measles-population-immunity)** > > Measles, which was 'eliminated' in the U.S. in 2000, could be endemic again within 25 years if current vaccination rates hold, study finds. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/188 "2025-05-01T22:54:40Z")
While RFK Jr. pledges to find the cause(s) of autism by September (March of 2026 according to an update), parents are canceling autism evaluations for their children and trying to get clinical diagnoses erased from medical records, due to fears of loss of privacy due to Administration policies. > **[Canceled appointments, pleas to shred records: Talks of autism registry put...](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2025/05/01/prospect-of-federal-autism-registry-scares-wisconsin-patients/83217403007/)** > > Researchers, clinicians and disability rights advocates are dismayed by RFK Jr.'s new autism study. Many view it as a big step backwards. Guess that’s one way to “bring down autism rates” - make parents so fearful of consequences of an autism diagnosis that they keep their kids away from health care. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/189 "2025-05-01T23:32:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Guess that’s one way to “bring down autism rates” - make parents so fearful of consequences of an autism diagnosis that they keep their kids away from health care. That was literally Trump’s answer to rising Covid rates… Stop testing so often. He even said so publicly! > **[Trump’s Take On COVID Testing Misses Public Health Realities - KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/trumps-take-on-covid-testing-misses-public-health-realities/)** > > Experts used terms like “misleading” and “counterproductive” to describe the president's words. So this seems totally fitting for the Trump administration. I fully expect that if this leads to declining Autism diagnoses, they will announce this as a success for the country. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/190 "2025-05-02T00:15:21Z")
[Kennedy Issues Demands for Vaccine Approvals That Could Affect Fall Covid Boosters](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/rfk-jr-vaccine-safety-placebos-covid.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EE8.IRbR._BbSIArJYkfu&smid=url-share) > [@](#): > > Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced plans to require all new vaccines to be tested against placebos and to develop new vaccines without using mRNA . . . > > As we’ve said before, trials from four years ago conducted in people without natural immunity no longer suffice,” he said. “A four-year-old trial is also not a blank check for new vaccines each year . . . Kennedy is saying that someone like myself (immunocompromised age 70) will no longer be able to get the mRNA COVID shot which I have received every six months. Will the U.S. vaccine ban create a shortage in Canada? Or does Canada have systems in place to prevent vaccine tourism? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/191 "2025-05-04T01:28:12Z")
RFK Jr’s HHS is replacing legitimate medical research with projects that superficially sound reasonable but actually have lower chance of success. This CNN article describes a plan to, almost surely, waste taxpayer dollars: [HHS touts universal flu, coronavirus vaccine initiative while casting doubt on future of seasonal Covid-19 shots](https://www.wral.com/story/hhs-touts-universal-flu-coronavirus-vaccine-initiative-while-casting-doubt-on-future-of-seasonal-covid-19-shots/21987640/) > [@](#): > > The US Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that it aims to accomplish within four years a scientific feat that hasn’t been achieved for the past 45: the development of a universal flu vaccine that could protect against multiple virus strains with pandemic potential, including H5N1 avian influenza. . . . > > . . . it will be funded with $500 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority . . . . > > Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. . . . noted that he trained in a flu lab in the early 1980s that was working on a universal flu vaccine, and one still hasn’t been developed. “It’s not for lack of effort, and it’s not for lack of expertise, and it’s not for lack of money that we don’t have a universal influenza vaccine. It’s just really hard to do.” . . . > > Poland said he was also surprised by the amount of money being devoted to a vaccine technology that science has largely moved away from. . . . > > Dr. Peter Hotez, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, said whole-virus vaccines were once more common, but developers moved away from them because they produce inoculations that are sometimes too strong and can provoke dangerous immune reactions. Why would RFK and friends push for a vaccine likely to have more side effects? Wouldn’t he want to study whatever will have the least side effects? My answer: The deep belief of Trump supporters is that there is an evil establishment of experts, and we should do the opposite of what they say. There is a danger of missing breakthroughs if you never fund out of fashion projects. But giving one of them $500 million dollars sounds like what DOGE would have stopped if it was legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/192 "2025-05-04T03:22:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Betcha didn’t know that Health and Human Services was the principal agent behind child trafficking in the U.S. under Biden. > > Well, RFK Jr. has put a stop to that. > > [RFK Jr Pushes Conspiracy HHS Forced Kids Into Slavery](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-pushes-conspiracy-hhs-forced-kids-into-slavery/) Thank ~~God~~ Trump! I look forward to these children being rescued from wherever they are and their return to the mines they were born to work in. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/193 "2025-05-05T03:30:48Z")
Well, Trump has to do _something_ to keep the economy humming once the tariffs kick in. Plus, children working in mines need _no_ dolls, let alone 30 or 3. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/194 "2025-05-05T13:47:15Z")
You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter, don’t you call me, 'cause I can’t go I bought my doll at the company store ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/195 "2025-05-05T14:11:45Z")
Rolling back child labor laws [is a goal of some right-wingers](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails), including Jeffrey Tucker of the Brownstone Institute. > [@](#): > > In a November 2016 [op-ed](https://fee.org/articles/let-the-kids-work/), “Let the Kids Work,” which he wrote for the [Koch-funded](https://importantcontext.substack.com/p/big-mystery-donors-fund-covid-conspiracy)Foundation for Economic Education—where he was a director—Tucker laid out his case. The piece was a response to a _Washington Post_ photo montage of child laborers from the early 20th century. He called photos of child workers “beautiful;” he suggested compulsory education was more coercive than the “system” of child labor; he claimed that youth sports like wrestling and gymnastics proved that kids enjoy danger. Note that Jay Bhattacharya, current NIH Director under RFK Jr., is affiliated with the Brownstone Institute. No word on whether Jay plans to cut costs by having elementary school students do custodial work at NIH, or maybe even conduct research. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/196 "2025-05-05T14:18:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > No word on whether Jay plans to cut costs by having elementary school students do custodial work at NIH, or maybe even conduct research. In Before: NIH researchers announce that eating your vegetables causes cancer. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/197 "2025-05-06T22:52:27Z")
More bad news: > **[Trump admin picks COVID critic to be top FDA vaccine regulator](https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/05/trump-admin-picks-covid-critic-to-be-top-fda-vaccine-regulator/)** > > Vinay Prasad is known for Twitter fights, comparing COVID responses to rise of Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/198 "2025-05-08T15:54:38Z")
Nicole Shanahan’s RFK Jr, ex-running mate, think that someone is manipulating him. Maybe it’s Mr. Mind (for those non-DC comic fans, he’s an evil alien worm). > **[RFK Jr.’s Ex-Running Mate Claims ‘Someone is Controlling’ Him in Wild Post...](https://www.mediaite.com/news/rfk-jr-s-ex-running-mate-claims-someone-is-controlling-him/)** > > Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, claimed somebody was "controlling" Kennedy's decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/199 "2025-05-08T18:39:44Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Maybe it’s Mr. Mind (for those non-DC comic fans, he’s an evil alien worm). [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/c/c7/Mister_Mind_2.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/c/c7/Mister_Mind_2.jpg) My bet is some MAGA operative. He had that affair with Olivia Nuzzi (“allegedly”), so there could be other dirt out there that could compromise him. Or maybe it’s just his usual nuttiness. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/200 "2025-05-09T17:04:45Z")
Crank in-fighting over the Means pick for Surgeon General has been highly amusing. Someone higher up in the Trumpian hierarchy has probably “controlled” RFK Jr. for political advantage - like getting Junior to address the Texas measles outbreak with government assistance that even included (gasp) helping to get MMR vaccine to the affected areas, though Junior has since gone back to spouting classic antivax nonsense like the MMR vaccine [being full of “aborted fetus debris”](https://theconversation.com/the-mmr-vaccine-doesnt-contain-aborted-fetus-debris-as-rfk-jr-has-claimed-heres-the-science-255718). If Junior had had his way, someone much nuttier than Calley Means would’ve been chosen Surgeon General, like Sherri “Covid vaccines magnetize people!” Tenpenny or Russell Blaylock, the ex-neurosurgeon and virulent antivaxer who’s claimed that the Soviets exported sexually transmitted diseases to the U.S. to sabotage the American way of life. There’s quite a few nutbags out there who haven’t yet been named to important health posts or to head major research projects. Just wait. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/201 "2025-05-09T19:18:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There’s quite a few nutbags out there who haven’t yet been named to important health posts or to head major research projects. Just wait. I bet the “brains” behind the _Plandemic_ movies are in the batter’s box taking some practice swings awaiting their approach to the plate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451.md?page=11)