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Helena
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‘Make America Healthy Again’ is officially in the cabinet — what comes next?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed by the Senate and swiftly sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday — a development that would have been almost unthinkable even six months ago.
It’s important to recall how we got here: RFK Jr. was a longtime Democrat-turned-Independent and prominent vaccine critic who folded his quixotic campaign for president last summer and then surprised many of his followers by endorsing Donald Trump. Trump quickly began pledging to let Kennedy “go wild” on health inside the federal government — a surprising twist considering how cozy the first Trump administration was with industry.
This new Trump-RFK Jr. alliance became the foundation of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, a loose but formidable coalition of people extremely concerned about health issues. Kennedy was a controversial pick to lead HHS, but he also came with a unique level of grassroots support. Scores of “MAHA moms” showed up to the Senate to back Kennedy’s nomination. They flooded Senate offices with phone calls, and ultimately commanded real political power on Capitol Hill. (Though, it should be noted, it was also not clear that Senate Republicans were ever truly willing to tank any of the president’s nominees — Kennedy was confirmed 52-48 on a largely party line vote. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, was the lone Republican to vote no on Kennedy, saying he would “not condone the relitigation of proven cures.” McConnell also cited the nominee’s “record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories.”)
Left and right scramble: When I first wrote about MAHA back in September, I got a couple angry emails from readers wanting to know why I was covering RFK Jr. at all. It took a while for folks to understand that this alliance was not only serious, but it represented a significant political realignment — a scrambling of left and right, where all of the sudden, some progressive food policy ideas were being adopted by parts of Trump’s base alongside health freedom activism driven by the pandemic. Then-candidate Trump clearly recognized there was energy behind these ideas.
“We’re going to get toxic chemicals out of our environment, and we’re going to get them out of our food supply,” Trump said on the campaign trail, to loud cheers. (Nevermind his first administration was deregulatory in almost every way and did nothing to address chemicals in the food supply.)
In the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump reiterated these same themes before swearing in Kennedy: “He’s absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply, and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens.”
The president also hinted that Kennedy’s supporters had been important in the November election. “He had tremendous support, unbelievable support, and I think a lot of that support came my way when we decided to do a little merger,” Trump said. “It was really great.”
MAHA commission: After the swearing in ceremony, President Trump established a “Make America Healthy Again Commission” aimed at studying the root causes of chronic diseases, with an initial focus on childhood chronic disease.
The commission, chaired by Kennedy, will be made up of top federal officials including the agriculture secretary, director of the Office of Management and Budget, leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA commissioner, etc. Other experts could also be a part of the effort.
President Trump directed the commission to produce a report that summarizes “what is known and what questions remain regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, and include international comparisons,” in the first 100 days. Within 180 days, the commission is expected to “produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children.”
What I’m watching: As this commission work gets underway, a central question is how the Trump administration intends to use the government to achieve the MAHA agenda. Is increasing food or environmental regulation actually a possibility? In many ways, it’s what a lot of MAHA moms voted for, but it still stands in conflict with Republican orthodoxy and all the early moves of this administration. In the Oval Office Thursday, Kennedy suggested he intends to be extremely disruptive to the agencies under his jurisdiction — this includes FDA, CDC and NIH. He lavished praise on Trump for working to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“We want to do the same thing with the institutions that are stealing the health of our children,” Kennedy said.
Another thing to watch is how Kenndy works with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who was also confirmed and sworn in Thursday, though by a much larger margin (72-28, with several Democrats voting yes.) Rollins and RFK have been complimentary of each other in public, but Kennedy is much more of a reformer than Rollins is. The agriculture industry is essentially counting on Rollins to keep RFK away from making any changes that would threaten their bottom line in any way, but the newly-minted agriculture secretary nodded to MAHA in a speech at USDA this morning.
“We will work to ensure that Making America Great Again is also aligned with Making America Healthy Again,” Rollins said. “They will not exist in opposition to one another, but as a complement in a common mission for our country, but in that conversation I will always defend American agriculture at the table.”
I will be covering all of this closely as both Kennedy and Rollins settle into their new appointments over the coming months. Stay tuned.
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What I’m reading
House GOP budget plan targets deep SNAP cuts (Politico). “The higher level of spending cuts in the newly released House Republican budget blueprint means some current food aid benefits for low-income Americans will likely be reduced,” reports Meredith Lee Hill. “House Republicans were already targeting expanded work requirements across the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which currently helps to feed more than 40 million low-income Americans. But the new plan…contains instructions for the Agriculture Committee to slash $230 billion across programs under its purview, meaning work requirements and changes to state waivers alone won’t reach that target number.”
CDC study finds silent bird flu infections in dairy veterinarians (New York Times). “Three dairy veterinarians, including one who worked only in states with no known bird flu outbreaks in cows, had recent, undetected bird flu infections, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Emily Anthes reports. “The results are based on antibody testing of 150 veterinarians working in 46 U.S. states. The findings were not entirely surprising, experts said, but did suggest that the virus, known as H5N1, could be infecting cows and people in more states than have been officially reported. The new study, which was published in the C.D.C.’s flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was initially slated for publication several weeks ago but was delayed by the Trump administration’s pause on public communications from health and science agencies. The study was conducted at a veterinary conference last September; participating vets practiced in 46 different states, as well as in Canada. Of the 150 veterinarians enrolled in the study, 25 of them reported having worked with cows who were either known to have or suspected of having bird flu.”
Canned tuna at Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Costco recalled over botulism risk (NBC News). “A voluntary recall has been issued for some canned tuna products — sold across the country at Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Costco and other stores — because of a pull tab defect that could lead to potentially fatal botulism food poisoning,” reports Marlene Lenthang. “Tri-Union Seafoods issued a voluntary recall for selected lots of canned tuna products that are sold under brand names like Genova, Van Camp’s, Trader Joe’s and H-E-B, the company and the Food and Drug Administration announced in a news release Friday. The recall was issued ‘out of an abundance of caution’ after, the supplier said, there was a manufacturing defect on the tuna can’s ‘easy open’ pull lid on limited products that could compromise ‘the integrity of the product seal,’ the release said. The defective lid could cause the product to leak or be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum — described as “a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.” Clostridium botulinum can cause botulism, a rare but serious illness that attacks the body’s nerves and can cause difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Ozempic shown to reduce drinking in first trial in alcohol-use disorder (CNN). “For years, people taking Ozempic or other drugs in the same class for diabetes and weight loss have noticed the medicines don’t just curb their desire to eat; for some, they also lead them to drink less alcohol,” writes Meg Tirrell. “Now, the first clinical trial – although relatively small and limited in duration – has confirmed it. A study of 48 people with signs of moderate alcohol-use disorder found that those taking low doses of semaglutide – the generic name of Ozempic – for nine weeks saw significantly greater reductions in how much alcohol they drank, as well as cravings for alcohol, compared with people on a placebo. The results were published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. ‘We hoped to see a reduction in drinking and craving,’ said Dr. Christian Hendershot, director of clinical research at the USC Institute for Addiction Science and the lead author of the study. ‘What I didn’t expect was the magnitude of the effects looks fairly good … compared to other alcohol-use disorder medications.’”
Free school meals bill advances in North Dakota legislative committee (North Dakota Monitor). “A legislative committee on Monday supported using $140 million from North Dakota’s general fund to pay for school meals instead of using the state’s Legacy Fund,” reports Jeff Beach. “The House Education Committee recommended passage of House Bill 1475, that would pay for lunches and breakfasts, ensuring that school districts will not be stuck with unpaid meal balances.”
Lawmakers tap brakes on call for universal free school meals for Utah kids (Deseret News). “Universal free school lunch and breakfast is not coming to Utah schools — at least not anytime soon,” reports Jason Swensen. “Lawmakers on Thursday tabled Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla’s bill calling for free school meals for every K-12 student enrolled in Utah’s public schools, regardless of a family’s ability to pay.”
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