President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order to establish a Make America Healthy Again Commission, just hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary.
Kennedy will chair the task force, focused on investigating the “root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.” First, the commission will address childhood chronic diseases, a fact sheet shared with Fierce Healthcare lays out.
Broadly speaking, the commission is the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically overhaul the national conversation on health policy. Trump previously said he’d let Kennedy “go wild” on health issues, if confirmed by the Senate.
“I have prayed each morning for the past two decades for God to put me in a position to solve the childhood chronic disease epidemic,” said Kennedy, “and now, thanks to you Mr. President, we will make this promise a reality.”
The commission will look to address health research, the food system and expanded coverage options. The executive order outlines a need for “fresh thinking” on physical activity and new technological habits, and the role the private sector currently holds. It will study contributing causes to childhood chronic disease such as “the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism.”
Federally funded health research should “avoid conflicts of interest” through renewed transparency and open-source data, according to a fact sheet. The new effort also calls for “gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government.”
On Feb. 7, the National Institutes of Health announced it was slashing billions of dollars in grants for biomedical research. A judge temporarily blocked the policy shift in 22 states.
The MAHA commission will also collaborate with farmers on the country’s food system, and “ensure expanded treatment options and health coverage flexibility,” per the fact sheet.
Within 100 days, an assessment on the childhood chronic disease crisis will be released. Threats assessed will include “over-utilization of medication.” It also will highlight the impact of food ingredients and chemicals, as well as “certain other exposures.”
Additionally, the impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers stimulants and weight-loss drugs. In the waning days of Biden’s time in office, the CMS pushed the next administration to cover anti-obesity medications for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees.
A strategic report based on the assessment will then be released.
“The Commission shall not reconvene, following submission of the strategy, until an updated mission is submitted to the President through the executive director,” the executive order said.
Serving on the commission will be Office of Management and Budget head Russel Vought, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Trump’s Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. It will also include department heads from the Environmental Protection Agency, Veterans Affairs, Education, Housing and Urban Development, plus several economic advisors.
Notably, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz would not serve on the commission, but the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and directors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health will.
Kennedy has long pointed to rising rates of chronic disease and healthcare costs as primary reasons to address reshape healthcare. He has a history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, though he partially distanced from those comments during Senate confirmation hearings.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, seen as a critical vote during the process, said he trusts Kennedy will adhere to mainstream science on vaccine safety. He will hold a close relationship with Kennedy and provide input on the department’s hiring decisions, the senator said. Cassidy repeatedly implored RFK during a confirmation hearing to say he trusts vaccines and the science showing they do not cause autism, but he sidestepped the comments.
The fact sheet notes that Trump has stated he will combat Big Pharma, and referenced health policy items from his first term, such as signing the SUPPORT Act for fighting against the opioid crisis, expanding access to telehealth, pushing advancements in sickle cell disease and signing an executive order on kidney disease.
Kennedy started his career as an environmental lawyer. He has since authored several books on health—including one on former National Institutes of Health Director Anthony Fauci, M.D.—and founded Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that promotes skepticism on vaccines and the rights of parents to make health decisions for their children.
Confidence in scientific institutions will improve as a result of new public hearings and events from expert leaders in public health, the White House said.
The Trump administration has already enacted a blitz of controversial policy changes impacting healthcare. They include attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies across government; challenging gender-affirming care; removing LGBTQIA-related data off government websites, withdrawing certain phrases from scientific publications, temporarily pushing a federal spending freeze impacting healthcare organizations and others, firing HHS’ top watchdog, pulling diversity guidance for clinical trials, and laying the groundwork to fire thousands of civil servants.
Several of these efforts have been temporarily halted by federal courts amid litigation, though plaintiffs, state governments and Democratic lawmakers alleged the federal agencies have not complied with some of these court order. At least one judge has agreed and signed another order to enforce his pause.
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