What a Trump-empowered RFK Jr. could do on health care (November 3, 2024)
www.axios.com

... Former President Trump's plan to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "go wild" on federal oversight of food and medicine could have real and serious consequences.

Why it matters: Even in an informal role, Kennedy could help diminish some of the most functional parts of the health care system, potentially leading to increases in preventable disease.

Driving the news: Kennedy recently said in a Zoom organizing call that Trump has promised him "control of the public health agencies," including HHS, CDC, FDA, NIH and the USDA.

- - - Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday that Kennedy won't be the HHS secretary. ...

RFK Jr. Has Power to Worsen Flagging US Vaccination Rates
www.bnnbloomberg.ca

... The world is trying to figure out how much Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can do to limit vaccine use. It turns out, quite a lot.

If confirmed by the Senate to become Secretary of Health and Human Services in the next Trump administration, Kennedy will influence leadership and staff choices at agencies that develop, approve, recommend, distribute and stockpile vaccines. Accounting for about a quarter of the federal budget, HHS has pervasive reach into the lives and health of all Americans. ...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
en.wikipedia.org

... After growing up in the Washington, D.C. area and Massachusetts, Kennedy graduated from Harvard University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He began his career as an assistant district attorney in New York City.

In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection: Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).[5] His work at Riverkeeper set long-term environmental legal standards. At both organizations, Kennedy won legal battles against large corporate polluters. ...

Since 2005, Kennedy has promoted anti-vaccine misinformation[9] and public-health conspiracy theories,[10] including the scientifically disproven claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism. The preservative Kennedy bases his claims on has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001.[11] Kennedy has described his position as advocating for medical freedom and raising concerns about government overreach in public health matters, though public health experts and fact checkers have widely criticized this framing.[12][13] Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has emerged as a leading proponent of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in the United States.[14][2] Many of his often false public health claims have targeted prominent figures such as Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, and Joe Biden. He has written books including The Real Anthony Fauci (2021) and A Letter to Liberals (2022). ...

After his father's death, Kennedy struggled with drug abuse, which led to his arrest in Barnstable, Massachusetts for cannabis possession at age 16,[27][28] and his expulsion from two boarding schools: Millbrook and Pomfret.[29][30] During this time, some in the Kennedy family regarded him as the "ringleader" of a pack of spoiled, rich kids who called themselves the "Hyannis Port Terrors," engaging in vandalism, theft, and drug use.[31][32]

At Harvard, Kennedy continued his experimentation with heroin and cocaine, often with his brother David, earning a reputation that has been described as a "pied piper" and "drug dealer."[33][34] ...

Trump opts for personal ties and TV chops in choosing his team
www.reuters.com

... In staffing his incoming administration, President-elect Donald Trump has so far veered from the conventional to the confounding. But his choices all seem to have one thing in common: A bond with Trump himself.

From his chief of staff to those he's tapped to lead the Justice Department, the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, Trump is picking people who have been familiar faces at his campaign rallies, frequent visitors to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida or reliable defenders of him on TV.

It's a sharp contrast from his first go-round in the White House, when Trump, then a neophyte Republican politician, ended up with members on his team with whom he had no prior working relationship and no level of trust.

For Trump 2.0, the president-elect is rewarding his staunchest allies with plum roles. Some have almost no relevant experience for their positions, and a few could face a difficult Senate confirmation process even with a Republican majority. ...