After a few weeks of heated debates and tough questioning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been sworn in as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Kennedy now gets to roll out his vision, Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), which promises a complete overhaul of the department.
Kennedy, 71, initially ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent, before dropping out of the race to endorse President Donald Trump.
The MAHA movement was part of his campaign slogan when he endorsed the now-president, laying out his mission of saving Americans from a debilitating chronic disease epidemic.
“I have prayed each morning for the past two decades for God to put me in a position to solve the childhood chronic disease epidemic, and now, thanks to you Mr. President, we will make this promise a reality,” Kennedy said at his swearing-in ceremony.
The HHS secretary has a wide range of responsibilities, overseeing 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health.
Although Kennedy received praise for his advocacy work during the last few weeks of hearings, he was also grilled by senators over his stance on vaccines and abortion.
Some members of the Senate accused Kennedy of being “anti-vax” and spreading conspiracy theories, to which he responded that he was “pro-science” and evidence-based.
All his children are vaccinated.
Trump has previously said that upon nomination, he would give Kennedy free rein to investigate potential links between vaccines and autism, something Kennedy has campaigned on for years.
Hours after Kennedy’s swearing-in ceremony, Trump established the “Make America Healthy Again” commission, with Kennedy appointed as chair.
The task force is set to cooperate with heads from 13 other departments.
It is set to investigate contributing causes to childhood chronic diseases like “the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism,” according to the executive order.
Kennedy has spent decades working as an environmental lawyer and has been highly critical of the U.S. food system, calling for stricter regulations on additives and chemicals in food, specifically chemicals such as Red Dye No. 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben.
Belonging to the Kennedy dynasty, his uncle, John F. Kennedy, was the 35th president of the United States, and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, was a candidate for presidential nomination. Both were assassinated.
Upon his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order for the declassification of any remaining JFK assassination files, which have been a point of contention for years over government transparency and overreach.
