Why RFK Jr.’s nomination worries Bloomberg Philanthropies health chief

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aka RFK Jr., is scheduled to appear before the full session of the U.S. Senate in the coming days, where a vote will determine his confirmation as U.S. health and human services, or HHS, secretary. Some reports suggest he’s likely to secure the position, but others hope that the Senate will reject his nomination. “For all public health and all health of Americans, the hope is that the United States Senate will not confirm RFK Jr. as health and human services secretary. But we have to watch and see,” said Dr. Kelly Henning, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ public health program. The role of HHS secretary is a very influential role, serving as the senior adviser to the president when it comes to health and welfare. It requires someone with deep public health expertise, and strong adherence to scientific facts and data, experts said. But some of them question whether Kennedy is right for the job. While Kennedy has a huge following and supporters, several health experts have condemned his past statements and work casting doubt on the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, and have called on the Senate to reject his nomination. During his confirmation hearings, Democratic lawmakers grilled him on vaccines. Some Republicans also expressed concerns about his rhetoric around vaccines, although they still voted for him at the Senate Finance Committee, advancing his nomination to the full Senate. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who said during a confirmation hearing that he’s “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination given his rhetoric on vaccines, explained in a post on social media platform X and on the Senate floor that he’s received assurances that Kennedy and the administration are committed to “protecting the public health benefit of vaccination,” and that they will have a “close collaborative working relationship.” But for others, his responses during the confirmation hearings did nothing to allay their fears. “His position on vaccines is really concerning, and his testimony really does not erase all of his well-documented history on promoting harmful anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, including his opposition to the COVID vaccine,” Henning said. She worries this will have implications on the many health programs Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting, such as on polio eradication. The philanthropic organization works on a range of health programs in the U.S. and low- and middle-income countries, including on noncommunicable diseases and often-neglected public health concerns such as drowning and road safety. But it also supports work on polio eradication, health data strengthening to inform policy, and provided support for the COVID-19 response. “Any anti-vaccine rhetoric that RFK Jr. promotes could have negative effects on families, parents, children taking up polio vaccine,” she said. Bloomberg Philanthropies also places huge importance on data and evidence in its public health programming, but Henning said “it is not clear whether RFK Jr. values data in the same way, and he has been, on a number of occasions, promoting fake science or poor science around things like the measles vaccines.” It’s unclear what Kennedy’s position is on tobacco control — a large focus area for the philanthropic organization. Henning said that’s an area they’ll be watching “very, very closely.” One area where they seem to share the same position is in the promotion of healthy food choices. But Henning said, “I don't believe that the statements that RFK Jr. has made on healthy food overcome in any way or diminish his anti-vaccine conspiracies and rhetoric.”