Robert F. Kennedy Jr. implored federal health agency workers on Tuesday to “let go” of preconceived notions of him and start from “square one,” but he also promised that “nothing is going to be off limits” in his pursuit to reduce chronic disease.
“Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formerly taboo or insufficiently scrutinized,” Kennedy told HHS staff in his first address to the department he now leads. “I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science.”
Kennedy’s comments — his first extended remarks since being confirmed last week — come as Washington reels from firings and funding cuts pursued by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Among the agencies Musk has targeted are those at HHS, leaving career officials and lawmakers worried about the impact on public health.
Kennedy made no mention of the dismissals, only hinted toward his previous comments threatening the jobs of federal agency staff resistant to his reforms. “Those who are unwilling to embrace those kinds of ideas can retire,” he said.
He added that he trusts “the idealism of most of the people who work at HHS.”
For years, Kennedy has cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines and spread misinformation linking vaccines to autism. During his Senate confirmation hearings, he refused to disavow those comments, only promising he would if “shown the data.”
He appeared to make the same pledge to HHS employees on Tuesday, not directly referencing his vaccine comments, but asking that they be open minded to his views. In return, he said he would acknowledge that he’s asked “a lot of difficult questions and come to unpopular conclusions.”
“I’m going to keep asking questions but hold my preconceived answers lightly. I’m willing to be wrong,” he said.
Kennedy nevertheless signaled he would prioritize fresh efforts to question long-held health standards to reduce chronic disease, listing the nation's childhood vaccine schedule as among the formerly "taboo" areas he planned to scrutinize.
Among the potential contributors to chronic disease he suggested he would direct HHS to investigate anti-depression drugs, ultra-processed foods, electromagnetic radiation and glysophates — a widely used herbicide found in some foods. The department's work, he vowed, would be carried out with "radical transparency" saying at multiple points that he also planned to crack down on perceived industry influence and conflicts of interest.
"We will remove conflicts of interest from the committees and research partners whenever possible or balance them with other stakeholders," Kennedy said. "We will shut the revolving door."
He wants to pursue his “Make America Healthy Again,” a movement that believes chronic disease is, in part, driven by additives in food and pollution in the environment.
A commission formed by President Donald Trump last week and chaired by Kennedy to look into the causes of chronic disease also referenced childhood obesity and the “overmedication” of children being treated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
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