(The hill) – President-elect Trump’s team tasked with leading the nation’s health authorities is quickly coming together.
Trump tapped first Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He then announced that Dr. Television’s Mehmet Oz was his choice to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In one Series of announcements Late Friday, Trump named former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Marty Makary to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Janette Nesheiwat to be the next surgeon general.
Almost all have been highly critical of the agencies they would lead if confirmed, and experts say the nominees represent a complete overhaul of the vision and priorities of key healthcare and public health agencies.
Here are four takeaways:
Largely positive reaction from Republicans
Senate Republicans reacted cautiously to Kennedy’s nomination as HHS chairman, but signaled that they were receptive to Kennedy despite some concerns Views on abortion and the food system.
Reaction to the other controversial nominees – including Oz and Weldon – was mostly positive.
“Congratulations, Dr. Dave Weldon! I have no doubt that you will bring exceptional skills and much-needed change to the CDC!” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) posted on X.
“I am very pleased to hear that Dr. Oz will be CMS administrator in the Trump administration. Excellent choice,” wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on X.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the likely chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said he was “pleased to hear” that Oz was Trump’s choice for CMS.
“It has been over a decade since a physician has led CMS, and I look forward to discussing his priorities. “This is a great opportunity to help patients and implement conservative health care reforms,” Cassidy, himself a doctor, said in a statement on X.
The HELP Committee has jurisdiction over HHS nominees, so each selection must be approved by the panel before being sent to the Senate for confirmation.
Weldon, who was among a trio of nominees Trump announced Friday, will be the first nominee for CDC director to go through the Senate confirmation process.
“I have been a strong advocate for CDC reform. “I look forward to learning about Doctor Weldon’s vision for the CDC,” Cassidy wrote on X.
Key moderates, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have not commented on Weldon, Makary or Nesheiwat.
Collins fought with Oz when he ran for Senate against the current senator. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and last week spoke positive about the management of CMS by a doctor.
Some Democrats are speaking out, but not all
When Trump announced Kennedy’s nomination, Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) were among the first of many Democrats to criticize him.
“There is no telling to what extent a fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set America back on public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and much more,” Murray, a HELP Committee member, said in a statement.
Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Kennedy’s “outlandish views on basic scientific facts are troubling and should concern all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children.”
Murray also spoke out against Weldon’s nomination as CDC director, raising concerns that he has promoted debunked claims about vaccine safety in the past.
“We need a leader who has real public health experience, not someone who has spent years spreading misinformation about vaccines and junk health plans,” Murray said. “To all my colleagues considering this nomination, I cannot say often enough: This is not a game, this is not a political role without consequence, it has real power over whether Americans receive basic information and care about their upkeep Families can be taken care of safely.”
But other Democrats remained largely hushed.
HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has not commented on any of Trump’s health care nominees.
Other HELP members such as Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have not responded.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Finance Committee, said RFK Jr. “poses a threat to public health, scientific research, medicine and health care.”
However, she did not comment on Trump’s other recommendations.
Trump’s candidates are unlikely to find much support among Democrats. But the lack of open hostility so far could be a sign that senators are letting Republicans internally fret about the more contentious elections rather than vocally opposing them.
The “Make America Healthy Again” agenda is coming into focus
Trump’s decisions suggest a major restructuring of health authorities to align with the vision of Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic.
Kennedy has promised to free agencies “from the oppressive cloud of corporate capture” as he implements his vision to “Make America Healthy Again.” Public health experts said Trump’s decisions signaled a move to prioritize chronic illnesses over infectious diseases.
“Given the current chronic health crisis facing our country, the CDC must take action and correct past mistakes to focus on disease prevention,” Trump said in a statement when he announced Weldon’s nomination. “The current health of Americans is critically vital, and CDC will play a major role in ensuring Americans have the tools and resources they need to address the underlying causes of diseases and solutions to cure them understand.”
During his presidential campaign as an independent, Kennedy said he wanted to “give infectious diseases a break for about eight years.”
Experts said focusing on chronic diseases is vital but should not come at the expense of infectious diseases.
“I sincerely want this administration to succeed in making America whole again. Chronic disease is important — but you can’t die of cancer at 50 if you’re dying of polio at 5,” said Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general during the first Trump administration. wrote on X
“Any idea that we can take a four-year break from infectious diseases is naive and dangerous,” said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. (*4*)
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, pointed to recent outbreaks of bird flu, measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and foodborne illnesses such as listeria.
“Infectious diseases have not gone away,” Benjamin said. “People have both chronic illnesses and infectious diseases, and you can’t separate the two.”
Vaccine skeptics
Kennedy was Trump’s first public health pick and is the person health experts remain most concerned about.
But many Democrats and health experts who have raised alarms about Kennedy fear Weldon will facilitate push an anti-vaccination agenda.
Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he fears Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism will be the catalyst for many of the authorities’ efforts on chronic diseases.
“RFK Jr. and Dave Weldon believe that disorders like autism and developmental delays are due to vaccinations, and the CDC has not made that clear because they are hiding the truth. Your job is to tear these agencies apart and get Americans the real data. Of course this is all nonsense,” Offit said.
Weldon served in Congress for 14 years, representing Florida’s 15th District, where he was an outspoken critic of the CDC.
He also spread the false claim that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is linked to autism.
He introduced a bill in 2007 that would remove vaccine safety research from the CDC’s purview and give the work to an independent HHS agency.
There is concern that Weldon and Kennedy may seek to purge the agencies of professional scientists and install loyalists.
“Most of us are waiting with great concern for mass layoffs at the CDC, NIH and FDA following Kennedy’s comments.” “If that actually happens, that would be by far the most worrisome aspect of the administration,” Osterholm said.
