Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as Trump's Health Secretary despite controversial health views
13 February 2025, 16:48 | Updated: 13 February 2025, 17:01
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as Donald Trump's Health Secretary - despite widespread concerns over his credentials and controversial views on vaccines.
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The 71-year-old politician's appointment as head of Health and Human Services came after Trump outlined his mandate to 'Make America Healthy Again'.
Kennedy gained enough votes to secure a 52-48 majority during Thursday's pivotal vote.
Mr Kennedy's famous name and family tragedies have put him in the national spotlight since he was a child, has earned a formidable following with his populist - and sometimes extreme - views on food, chemicals and vaccines.
His audience grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Mr Kennedy devoted much of his time to a nonprofit which sued vaccine makers and harnessed social media campaigns to erode trust in vaccines as well as the government agencies that promote them.
Kennedy will now oversees several high-profile agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The former presidential candidate will now oversee government health agencies incorporating some 80,000 employees and a trillion-dollar budget.
He's the latest controversial member of Trump's cabinet to be appointed.
Kennedy has previously expressed controversial views on vaccinations, abortion and the promotion of conspiracy theories.
Ahead of his appointment via a slim majority, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioned Kennedy over past remarks and baseless health claims.
The appointment had faced heavy pushback from Democrats.
With the backing of President Donald Trump, Mr Kennedy believes he is "uniquely positioned" to revive trust in those public health agencies.
Republican senators have largely embraced Mr Kennedy's vision, reciting his newly hatched slogan to "Make America Healthy Again" in speeches.
Last week, North Carolina Republican senator Thom Tillis said he hopes Mr Kennedy "goes wild" on reigning in health care costs and improving Americans' health.
But one holdout - Republican senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana doctor - required assurances that Mr Kennedy would not make changes to existing vaccine recommendations before agreeing to back him.
Kennedy's appointment comes as a measles outbreak continued to spread through Texas.
The latest available data showed nine people have been hospitalised as part of the outbreak, with at least 24 measles cases recorded - despite much of the health agency's data remaining unpublished since Trump's overhaul of government and federal processes.
Gaines County, the centre of the Texas outbreak, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. All cases are in people who were unvaccinated, with most reported to be children.