Trump Taps RFK Jr. for FDA Revamp

United States: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former presidential candidate who is expected to have a huge position in the new Trump administration, said on Wednesday that there are “entire departments” within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that “have to go.”

“In some categories … there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job, they’re not protecting our kids,” Kennedy said during an interview on MSNBC.

Transition from Independent Candidate to Trump Ally

Kennedy previously ran for president as a Democrat before changing to an independent candidacy in August before finally supporting Trump, as reported by The Hills.

Trump’s win in the presidential race positions Kennedy as a winner himself who is likely to feature in a certain way, shape, or form in health care for the Trump administration.

Kennedy last week told that Trump promised him a role in The White House in case he were to win the presidential elections.

Potential Roles and Legislative Challenges

“We don’t know what I’m going to do.’ I mentioned that to the president yesterday that it seems to be in its formative stage, and he said to me what do you want? We are now in the process of preparing a proposal; Kennedy said this in an interview with Martha MacCallum from Fox News when the anchor asked if Kennedy would be the Health and Human Services secretary.

That job would need Senate approval. It seems that Republicans will have over 52 seats 7at the Senate, but it is unclear how easily it would be to confirm Kennedy. Indeed, there have been a lot of hints that Kennedy would perform duties that do not call for Senate approval.

FDA and Health Agency Reforms

The co-chair of Trump’s transition team recently said that Insurer-forcing Kennedy “is not getting a job” as the head of HHS, as reported by The Hills.

When asked by MSNBC if he would get rid of any health agencies, the senator said: “To eliminate the agencies, as long as it needs the consent of Congress, I would not be doing that.”

“I can get the corruption out of the agencies,” he added.