Home Republicans had combined reactions to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Well being and Human Companies in his administration.
Kennedy has been an anti-vaccine activist and based the Kids’s Well being Protection, a distinguished anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned in opposition to immunizations and different public well being measures like water fluoridation. Medical specialists expressed issues a few rise in medical misinformation by Kennedy’s candidacy.
HHS oversees main well being companies such because the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, the Meals and Drug Administration and the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies, amongst others.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Turning Level Motion marketing campaign rally, Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Georgia.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., raised issues in regards to the decide, saying, “Nicely, all my youngsters are vaccinated and I hope he’s not going to maneuver in opposition to one of the life-saving applied sciences within the historical past of the world.”
Requested if Kennedy was the best selection, Duarte responded, “I don’t know.”
“I’d wish to see extra of his opinions and extra of his ideas in numerous issues, however the anti-vaccine mantra scares me rather a lot,” he stated.
There was no instant response from senators, who would vote on Kennedy’s nomination.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, laughed when requested for an opinion, saying “It’s the president’s prerogative. I’m not a senator.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, known as the information “implausible.”
“Robert’s a pal now for a number of years, we have been speaking rather a lot,” Roy stated.
Roy stated there is a should be “disrupting the corruption” in federal well being companies, which he expects Kennedy to perform.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., known as Kennedy’s choice a “nice decide.”
“Good decide on the president’s half, as all of them have been, and he’ll do a great job,” Norman stated. “Folks say, ‘Nicely, he’s a Democrat.’ Look, he’s bought an curiosity, he’s bought an curiosity, a ardour for the medical discipline. He’ll do a great job in it.”
Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, R-La., stated Trump is constructing a “various” Cupboard.
“He’s bringing in Republicans, Democrats. He’s bringing in individuals’s completely different walks of life. You noticed Tulsi Gabbard yesterday, Scalise stated.
