In his first address to HHS employees, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised major reforms at the department, urging a new era of radical transparency and making it clear that those unwilling to embrace his vision are welcome to retire.
Kennedy emphasized his commitment to tackling the nation’s chronic disease crisis and fostering a culture of honesty and accountability. He warned that those unwilling to embrace transparency should consider retirement.
He assured staff that his leadership would be guided by scientific integrity, free from political or corporate influence, pledging to overhaul the department’s approach to public health by making data and decision-making processes more accessible. By doing so, he hopes to eliminate the need for Freedom of Information Act requests, which he said have become a workaround for obtaining information that should already be public.
He indicated that HHS would investigate various potential contributors to chronic disease, including antidepressants, chemical exposures, ultra-processed foods, microplastics, electromagnetic radiation, childhood vaccine schedules and glyphosate—a widely used herbicide present in some foods. He pledged that the department’s efforts would be based off a template of ‘unbiased science’, which he would use to scrutinize suspicions and beliefs he has held in the past. He assured all efforts would be conducted with “radical transparency” and emphasized his commitment to reducing industry influence and conflicts of interest.
