Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is not a doctor. This is significant because Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, attacked Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s HHS nominee, in 2021 for not having a medical background. Becerra was a lawyer—and so is RFK, Jr. Apparently, what was once a deal breaker is now welcomed. The right wing has transformed hypocrisy into a fine art.
Before continuing, a note on style: referring to the current HHS secretary as “RFK, Jr.” is an insult to his father, Robert F. Kennedy. Out of respect, the secretary will be referred to as “Junior” throughout the remainder of this piece.
Senator Cassidy’s hypocrisy is especially galling, since he is a doctor. After twisting himself into rhetorical knots, he ultimately voted to confirm Junior. He knew better. Do no harm, indeed.
Junior’s tenure was always going to be a disaster. During confirmation, he bent (read: lied about) his positions, but they snapped back into place once the vote was over. The consequences have been swift.
On March 27, 2025, the first wave of 10,000 personnel cuts at HHS was announced:
**The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): 2,400 job cuts
**The Food & Drug Administration (FDA): 3,500 job cuts
**The National Institutes for Health (NIH): 1,200 jobs cut, in addition to 1,000 already eliminated and $2.6 billion in contracts canceled
**The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 300 job cuts
These followed the earlier termination of 3,248 probationary employees, who lost their legal challenges. The administration’s goal is to eliminate 20,000 jobs, reducing the HHS workforce by 25%—from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. This is not trimming “waste, fraud, and abuse”—this is slicing into the bone. Junior’s fantasy is that HHS will do more with less while the repercussions for public health will likely be catastrophic and take decades to both discover and reverse.
Additionally, HHS will reduce its 28 divisions to 15 and cut its 10 regional offices down to 5. The result? Chaos.
In an ironic twist for someone who promised “radical transparency,” Junior filed a notice on March 3, 2025, in the Federal Register ending the public’s right to comment on HHS plans. Apparently, public health is no longer the public’s concern.
The purge of leadership and expertise continues. Top scientists, managers, and staff—those who made the agency functional—have been forced out. The result is disorganization and dysfunction. Trump and Junior have no respect for expertise. Experts only interfere with conspiracy theories and junk science.
Even Junior seems unaware of what’s happening. On April 3, 2025, he said, “... we fired the wrong people... we’re reinstating them... that was always the plan.” (Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-says-whoops-we-fired-the-wrong-people-at-hhs/) This absurd “plan”—fire first, fix later—raises serious questions. What i fpeople don’t want to return? How has this damaged morale?
That same day, Kennedy claimed a lead exposure program would be reinstated. HHS later contradicted him: it would not.On April 8, he directed the CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water despite decades of proven dental health benefits. This coincided with the elimination of the CDC’s Division of Oral Health.
In an April 9 interview with Dr. Jon LaPook, Junior denied knowledge of $11.3 billion in cuts to states to programs for infectious disease, mental health, addiction, and childhood vaccination—brushing them off as “DEI cuts” following a Trump directive. (Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-sweeping-cuts-health-programs-employees-exclusive-interview/) — DEI cuts totaling 11.3 billion for state health programs? Wow!
A leaked April 10 HHS document proposed further slashing of the department’s budget—from $120 billion to $80 billion. Proposed program reductions include Head Start and HIV/AIDS prevention and mental health. It also suggested eliminating entire agencies, including:
**Health Resources and Services Administration
**Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
**Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
**Administration for Community Living
(Source: https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hhs-budget-proposal-trump-health-cuts-funding/745658/)
Junior was invited to appear before the Senate Health, Labor, and Pensions Committee on April 10, 2025, by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) to explain what he was doing to HHS. The hearing was postponed until May, giving Junior time to prepare—though no amount of prep will make him coherent.
At the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit on April 24, Junior shared stories of his 14-year heroin addiction. Meanwhile, HHS canceled a Narcan training and distribution program, even though Narcan saves lives in heroin overdoses.
Junior’s vaccine skepticism is particularly dangerous amid the current measles outbreak. The disease declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, has reemerged with 884 confirmed cases in 30 states as of April 24, with three deaths.The outbreak has also spread to Mexico with 420+ cases. Junior attended the funeral in Texas of a child who died—raising uncomfortable questions about the role his rhetoric played in her death. The World Health Organization may have to cancel America’s measles elimination status.
On April 16, Junior claimed that autismis caused by environmental factors—including vaccines—and announced that HHSwould identify these causes by September. His lead researcher? David Geier, adiscredited vaccine skeptic who, was once accused of practicing medicinewithout a license. Junior’s conclusion is already written—the data will just beforced to match whatever he believes.
Junior’s stewardship of the Department of Health and Human Services is not just incompetent—it is ideologically driven sabotage. From massive layoffs and program cuts to anti-science dogma and stunning disorganization, his actions threaten the core of America’s public health infrastructure. His legacy will not be one of reform but of reckless dismantling. “Do no harm” has been replaced with “do what I believe,” regardless of the evidence—or the consequences. Grade: F-, only because lower grades are not possible.
Day 101: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,361 days
