- Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, ran for president as a Democrat and later as an independent in 2024.
- In August, he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.
- Trump has now announced his nominees for a half-dozen Cabinet positions.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump announced Thursday.
“Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” Trump said in a statement.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, ran for president as a Democrat and later as an independent in 2024. In August, he suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.
In the final weeks of Trump’s campaign, Kennedy made periodic campaign appearances alongside the president-elect. Kennedy claimed Trump had promised him “control” over the federal government’s public health agencies, including HHS. While Trump said he would let Kennedy “go wild on health,” his campaign — including his transition chair, Howard Lutnick — repeatedly said Kennedy would not be receiving a Cabinet-level position.
Trump, however, announced Thursday that he is “thrilled” to nominate Kennedy as HHS secretary. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said. The Kennedy-led HHS, Trump added, would “play a big role” in “helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives.”
Weeks ago, Kennedy already began making promises on behalf of the Trump administration: under Trump, he claimed, the federal government would move to remove fluoride from drinking water and provide alternate information about vaccines. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, said he would not “take away anybody’s vaccines,” but simply give Americans “the best information.”
Trump has announced his nominees for a half-dozen Cabinet positions. Alongside Kennedy, he will nominate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state; Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as attorney general; Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. In his first term, Trump included the U.N. ambassador in his Cabinet; Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has been nominated to that position.