Public health experts are discussing the fallout from the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. And they’re looking ahead to upcoming hearings on other HHS nominations, including Dr. Mehmet Oz for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and biotech investor Jim O’Neill for HHS Deputy Secretary. On February 20, 75 organizations called on senators to reject Oz’s nomination.
EAGAN KEMP; ekemp@citizen.org, @eagankemp
Kemp is a specialist on health care policy for Public Citizen.
Kemp told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “RFK Jr.’s confirmation raised many concerns: not just that he is deeply unqualified for his role, but also about how the nomination and confirmation went. Most senators felt themselves to be a rubber stamp on Trump’s agenda. If someone is being put forward as a nominee, we can basically assume at this point that the Senate is going to let everyone through.
“Now that RFK is in there, we’re concerned about the steps they are already taking to clear folks out at HHS. The folks who were investigating Neuralink [Elon Musk’s company] have already been fired. We are also already seeing that the CDC has delayed their first important vaccine meeting under Trump. There is also no reason to think that RFK Jr. will stand up to Trump on reproductive rights, even though that was one area that Republicans were pushing back on.
“Dr. Oz, meanwhile, has said that he will divest himself of millions in healthcare investments within 90 days. But even in that time frame, he could boost certain stock positions. Ethics experts are raising concerns about potential abuses of power and conflicts of interest. The administration is firing inspectors general and other folks who are charged with making sure that conflicts of interest aren’t happening. How much hollowing out of these agencies will take place before they even have confirmed all of the nominees?”
Dr. Oz, Kennedy, and other figures under the Make America Healthy Again banner “make the case that they want a better healthcare system, but they’re just pushing privatization,” said Kemp. “If you privatize Medicare, the American people will be hurt. In the long run, there could be a trillion dollars in overspending if we continue on the path we’re on. In Project 2025, they write about making Medicare Advantage the default. That would be dangerous for seniors. That is an area that senators need to ask tough questions about. Democrats need to get Dr. Oz on the record and highlight the priorities of this administration. We know these nominees won’t put the American people first, so we need to get them on the record, because that sets up eventual accountability.
“RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz see themselves as rubber stamps for Trump’s priorities, rather than bringing any expertise or backbone to the job. They don’t have the experience to run agencies this large. They have significant financial conflicts of interest. And their stated opinions are counter to the benefit of the American people. Even though RFK talked about wanting to push back on industry, given how much Big Pharma puts into the Republican Party, it is almost impossible to imagine that he won’t be forced to fall in line. We have no indication that this administration holds any anti-corporate sentiment that couldn’t be paid for by other corporation donations.”
Kemp noted that Public Citizen and other groups are also tracking the nomination of Jim O’Neill, who is still “flying under the radar” and is unfit to sit in the second-highest HHS seat.