Tipsheet

It's RFK Jr.'s First Day at HHS. Here's What He Told the Agency.

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  February 18, 2025 11:30 AM

Newly minted Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to the microphone at the Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday morning ahead of his first full day at the agency. He spoke to thousands of government employees, many in person, about his mission under the direction of President Donald Trump. 

"My mission at HSS, and I hope you all will join me, is to reverse the chronic disease epidemic in America," Kennedy said. "We're going to work together to launch a new era of radical transparency. Only with radical transparency can we provide Americans with true informed consent."

Kennedy pointed out the Founding Fathers were citizen scientists, from Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Franklin. 

"Science and democracy were born together," he said. "Science and democracy flourish from the free and unimpeded flow of information." 

He vowed to remove conflicts of interest, make data and policy process available without a Freedom of Information Act request and much more. 

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"Our health shouldn't be a political issue," he said. "It should be an issue of science and basic human compassion." 

His leadership at HHS comes at a time of deep distrust of the public health system, specifically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and trans agenda. 

"What is the path to public trust? The path to trust is always through transparency," Kennedy stressed, vowing to restore public trust. "I promise to be willing to be wrong. I promise to keep an open mind." 

After a brutal confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats and Republican Mitch McConnell worked to derail his nomination, Kennedy was sworn in during a ceremony in the Oval Office last week.