On September 4th, 2025, Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy (RFK) Jr. testified in front of the United States Senate Finance Committee to defend his actions as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
He was met with harsh criticism by members of the U.S. Senate, such as Democrats Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), and Michael Bennett (Colorado), as well as Republicans John Bassaro (Wyoming), Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and Brett Giorier (Former Assistant Secretary of Health during Trump’s first term), over his firings of Center for Disease Control (CDC) staff and anti-vaccine actions. And so, with several news sources reporting on this event with fact-checkers both supporting and opposing the policies, the question must be asked: Is RFK Jr.’s position on vaccines and national health warranted? Or is he destroying the health of the United States?
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission has several goals: Increasing preventative care by encouraging and promoting healthy eating and activities, vaccine safety and personal choice, increasing “transparency” around vaccines and pledging to increase funding to vaccine producing corporations, environmental health and pollution reduction, via tightening regulations on water and air quality standards to lower environmental factors that affect disease, and finally, reducing prescription drug prices by stricter negotiating between the government and pharmaceutical companies.
With the goals in mind of MAHA, it’s imperative that we analyze each one individually in order to determine how successful he has been in these goals, and if he will end up being fully successful in the future.
Firstly, has Kennedy succeeded in increasing preventative care? In the Supreme Court case Kennedy V. Braidwood, Kennedy challenged the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA or also known as Obamacare) provision that allows the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) to recommend preventive health plans, such as vaccines, for the provided reasoning of violating the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This challenge was defeated by the Supreme Court, stating that the USPSTF did not, in fact, violate the Appointments Clause. Kennedy’s challenge to that ACA provision seems counterintuitive, as it provides completely free preventive health coverage to anyone covered under the ACA, while getting rid of it would remove that stipulation. Other actions Kennedy has done to increase preventive care would be the soda ban on food stamps, citing content within sodas as a source of dietary disease. As well as the institution of the Presidential Fitness Test, a standard for American high school students to be physically active. The impact of these measures is soon to be known, as several studies conducted by independent organizations have begun. What we can say for sure is that Kennedy has received mixed results attempting to increase preventative care.
Secondly, has Kennedy succeeded in increasing vaccine safety and choice? The biggest action done by Kennedy was the reconstruction of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), in which he fired all 17 of the members citing concerns of corruption via being bought out by pharmaceutical companies, replacing them with members he chose. Although it is worth noting that the only evidence Kennedy provides for the ACIP being bought out is an article from July 21, 2003, that has no active sources within it. These actions were met with immediate attacks from the rest of the CDC staff and senators across America. The CDC members who ran the center wrote a letter in the New York Times, citing the need to protect American health from Kennedy.
Kennedy also stated he wanted to increase funding to vaccine companies. Has he done that? The answer is quite the opposite. Kennedy has pulled out $500 million worth of contracts into the production of the mRNA-focused vaccines, produced by well-known companies such as Pfizer and Moderna, citing concerns for safer vaccines. This initiative was also followed by extensive efforts to reduce the amount of people who qualify to get the vaccine, instituting a federal law to limit access to those 6 months and older with an underlying respiratory condition, or if you’re older than the age of 65, once again citing vaccine safety.
Whether you agree or disagree with these policies, it goes against his own agenda to increase vaccine choice; leaving those who want the vaccine that are younger than 65 with no respiratory conditions, or those who might need the vaccine to prevent spreading to members who refuse vaccination, who do have a health risk, unable to do anything. These restrictions go against free choice on vaccines for everyone.
One of the other policies Kennedy is chasing is to limit environmental damage and pollution, so has he succeeded in that? Kennedy used to be hailed as one of the best and most well-known environmental advocates in the U.S., and so when his policies for environmental justice became public, people expected actual change. However, Donald Trump has prevented these programs from ever coming to fruition. The leaving of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, a removal of what was cited as “environmental extremism” from policies, and stopping leasing to wind farms that provide clean energy. Kennedy has since stopped his campaign on environmental protection, and it’s clear he has no intention to resume it. It could be said that Kennedy has failed on his promises to reduce pollution and protect the environment, but we will just have to wait and see.
Robert F. Kennedy has received mixed results, or downright failed, on several of his MAHA programs. It would be safe to say that we cannot expect him to follow through on several promises because of his hypocritical behavior, failure to actively engage in programs he said he wants, and his controversial handling of American health.
I have always had a soft spot for Kennedy; he was one of the only independent candidates that I was excited to see fight in the presidential race. However, I am very dissatisfied and disappointed with Kennedy. He has stopped his most important promises, has made many hypocritical actions, and has not released any tangible evidence that his policies are working. I would not call him delusional, nor a populist. But he certainly is not an American Hero of Health.
