Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services2025-04-21

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the 26th HHS secretary on February 13, 2025, immediately before Trump signed an order establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission.
Kennedy takes office as Trump establishes the MAHA Commission · HHS secretary as of September 3, 2026
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
FDA layoffs included reviewers working on Musk's Neuralink · Review staff were included in the initial FDA dismissals
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
FDA asked fired Neuralink reviewers to return one week later · FDA invited selected scientists, including Neuralink reviewers, back to work
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
FDA laboratories could not buy routine supplies under DOGE payment controls · Laboratories used exception requests to restore supply purchases
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
FDA layoffs put drug and device review deadlines at risk · FDA teams reported difficulty meeting statutory product-review deadlines
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
HHS restructuring eliminated about 3,500 FDA positions · HHS announced approximately 3,500 FDA position cuts
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
CDC eliminated a team as it prepared health work for Hurricane Helene survivors · The planned community health project lost its assigned CDC team
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
FDA scientists were asked to volunteer for contracting work after procurement layoffs · Agency offices used volunteer workarounds for eliminated contracting capacity
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
HHS laid off seven of eight federal firefighter-death investigators · Seven investigators received layoff notices and 20 investigations faced interruption
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
NIOSH cuts halted a first-of-its-kind firefighter cancer study · Research and outreach were halted after team layoffs
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
NIH terminated research grants after a judge blocked the administration's policy · Internal records showed post-order terminations; litigation and restoration efforts continued
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
HHS accumulated a billion-dollar grant backlog after DOGE controls · HHS acknowledged delayed grant processing worth about $1 billion
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
Senate minority staff counted $4.49 million lost across three NIH grants · $4.49 million minority-staff estimate through July 2025
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
More than 20,500 HHS workers left or were pushed out · ProPublica measured more than 20,500 departures across HHS agencies
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
Experts linked USAID cuts to weaker detection and response in the 2026 DRC Ebola outbreak · DRC outbreak response operated without prior U.S. surveillance and preparedness capacity
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
A $14.7 million HHS registry claim yielded $141,489 in recorded deobligation · GAO measured $141,489 deobligated at closeout
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
A closed COVID testing contract released roughly $50.2 million while DOGE showed zero · GAO documented closeout and rescission deobligations absent from DOGE's displayed savings
documented
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Trump-appointed health and human services secretary.
Appointment or biography record identifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump-appointed health and human services secretary
HHS restored $4.5 million after DOGE claimed $6.5 million on an epidemic system · Contract remained active at $10.9 million after partial termination and new option work