Hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gained Senate confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order establishing the President’s Commission to Make America Healthy Again.
Trump made the announcement on Feb. 13 in the Oval Office, where Kennedy was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Kennedy will serve as chair of the task force, which will investigate the “root causes of America’s escalating health crisis,” including childhood chronic diseases, according to a White House fact sheet.
Within 100 days, an assessment of the childhood chronic disease crisis will be released, the executive order said.
The investigation will target the “over-utilization of medication” and also highlight the impact of food ingredients and chemicals along with “certain other exposures.”
The impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers stimulants, and weight-loss drugs will also be studied.
According to the executive order, the commission will look into contributing causes to childhood chronic diseases like “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” by transparency and open-source data, a White House fact sheet said.
The commission will demonstrate “gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government,” the fact sheet said.
Upon completion of the research, a strategic report based on the assessment will be released, according to the executive order.
“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 reads.
Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent before leaving the race in August 2024 and backing then-former President Donald Trump.
After ending his White House bid, Kennedy established the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement and vowed to end the nation’s chronic disease epidemic.
HHS manages 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health.
In the Oval Office, Kennedy thanked Trump before a pool of reporters.
“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, and now, thanks to you Mr. President, we will make this promise a reality,” Kennedy said.
Addressing Trump, Kennedy added: “And I’ve told you before, genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure, and you are going to transform this country.”
The commission will include Trump’s Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Vince Haley, Office of Management and Budget lead Russel Vought, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was also confirmed on Feb. 13.
Department heads from the EPA, Veterans Affairs, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and several economic advisers will also compose the task force as will the commissioner, and CDC and NIH directors.
Before Kennedy was sworn in, Trump said Kennedy is “absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply, and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens.”
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