For the most part, Donald Trump has been tight-lipped about who he would appoint to his administration if he wins.
But he made one clear promise: Trump said he would allow it Conspiracy theorists And Vaccination skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jrgo wild“On health, food, and drug control. This could have massive consequences for America’s public health and vaccine policy. If RFK gets his way completely and blocks vaccination, vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and polio could return.
Kennedy, who ended his third-party presidential run by endorsing Trump in augustExpect great things. he told supporters At a recent virtual event Trump promised him “control of public health agencies, which are HHS and its sub-agencies, CDC, FDA, NIH and a few others,” as well as the Department of Agriculture. Kennedy did too said He will lead these organizations “deeply involved in helping people make choices.”
Trump Transition Co-Chair Howard Lutnick CNN said Wednesday that Kennedy “isn’t getting a job” at HHS, but Lutnick expressed full sympathy with Kennedy’s belief that vaccines cause autism. “I spent two and a half hours this week with Bobby Kennedy Jr., and it was the most amazing thing,” Lutnick said, adding that he believes in the vaccine theory that causes autism.
Although Trump has taken an ambiguous position on the Covid vaccines his administration has approved, he has long believed that childhood vaccines cause autism. He reiterated that belief in a call for Kennedy’s endorsement this summer (which was recorded and publicly posted by Kennedy’s son): Trump complained that children now get too many vaccines and then “changed drastically.” He added: “I’ve seen it many times.”
It’s hard to say whether Kennedy’s views will find deep sympathy at the top of Trump’s administration. In Trump’s first term, experts, scientists and professionals were in charge of such problems – hence the development of the Covid vaccine. But Trump’s second term could be quite different given the right-wing backlash against experts who brought up the pandemic. The risk of Kennedy taking a wrecking ball on public health regulation and vaccine policy in particular is very real.
Tucker Carlson, appearing at an event with Kennedy this week, was positively delighted About that possibility. “Can you imagine if you were at the FDA or the NIH and Bobby Kennedy came in all of a sudden,” Carlson said with a laugh. “I mean, they must be dying!”
RFK could probably not be confirmed by the Senate. Either way, he could have wielded massive influence.
A few including public health leaders Former GOP And appointed by TrumpQuite alarmed at the prospect of giving RFK authority over public health policy. Jerome Adams, who was Trump’s surgeon general in his first term, Monday said This could “further erode people’s willingness to keep up to date with recommended vaccines,” and he was “concerned” about the impact on Americans’ health.
Others reacted with skepticism to Kennedy’s chances of landing the top agency job, noting that a position like HHS secretary Requires Senate confirmation, A prospect that would seem unlikely even if the GOP regains control of the chamber. Sense. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the two most moderate Republican senators, serve on the committee that will consider the nomination.
Yet despite not being Senate-confirmed, there is a model of how Kennedy could operate in government and exert enormous influence. Call it the Stephen Miller model.
Miller, an extreme anti-immigration ideologue, served as a senior White House adviser (a job that does not require Senate confirmation). But he exerted enormous influence over the federal agencies that govern immigration policy Dubbed “Immigration President.” he berated Agency officials to administer the policies he preferred and, when he felt some of Trump’s appointees weren’t getting the job done, he Their ousted engineers.
It’s entirely possible that Trump could appoint Kennedy to a similar role if he wanted to. It is unclear whether Kennedy would have proved as effective a bureaucratic operator as Miller, but he certainly matched Miller’s passionate monomania on specific issues, arguing that For two decades that vaccines cause autism, as a writer, as an activist, and then as a political candidate.
Another reason Miller had such influence was that it was believed throughout the administration that he was speaking for President Trump, that they had “like-mindedness” on immigration. And Trump’s comments have long made clear that he agrees with Kennedy on childhood vaccinations.
Even if Kennedy did not officially join the government, he could have a major influence on policy. If accurate, his claim that he will be “deeply involved” in Trump’s public health hiring decisions means he could pick like-minded allies to try and overhaul public health agencies.
The real question is whether Trump will capitalize on what would be a hotly contested overhaul of US vaccine policies. Despite his belief in the autism link, Trump didn’t really choose to do anything about it during his first term. Although he would have won a second term, he would owe it to Kennedy’s support, and anti-vaccine sentiment is growing on the right.
Perhaps the biggest mystery hanging over Trump’s second term is how out of control Trump has become since leaving office. The Republican establishment wants to believe that, in reality, Trump will still rely heavily on them and appoint competent people to replace Cook in top positions. But Trump will likely feel less scrutinized by that organization than ever before and more willing to reward his extreme supporters. This is certainly what Kennedy is betting on.
