Recently, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy. Let’s just say there was no shortage of spirited debate between Kennedy and my Democratic colleagues.
Kennedy is leading a bold effort across his agency and others in the healthcare sphere of the administration — what he calls ‘MAHA’ short for ‘Make America Healthy Again.’ I am a strong supporter of Kennedy and his MAHA efforts. So are a vast majority of Americans.
Why? Because Kennedy, like myself, has seen the problem plainly: our federal health agencies — the FDA, CDC, NIH and HHS — have become too cozy with the industries they are supposed to regulate, too resistant to new ideas and too buried in their own bureaucratic bloat.
Instead of protecting public health, they have helped usher in an epidemic of obesity, chronic illness, mental health issues and disease. Government failure in this arena shouldn’t shock anyone — it’s the usual cocktail of corruption, complacency, greed and incompetence.
In a House hearing, one Democrat member challenged Kennedy’s record and accomplishments in his short tenure at HHS. Kennedy’s reply? ‘You’ve worked for 20 years on getting food dye out. Give me credit, I got it done in 100 days!’ — and without any new government regulations. That kind of decisive action is exactly what we need to improve the health of Americans.
I bring this up to say that I’m pleased with both the breadth and the speed with which HHS and other agencies under MAHA are moving to change things. MAHA is reexamining the childhood vaccine schedule, scrutinizing food additives and advancing a range of reforms that may seem small individually but together add up to meaningful improvements in the health of all Americans.
What’s most notable about this movement is how it brought together three somewhat distinct groups for change against an entrenched establishment.
Kennedy, once a Democrat, galvanized support from left of center. Libertarians, who’ve long fought for medical and food freedom, have joined as well.
Lastly, MAHA was embraced by President Donald Trump in his campaign. Together, these three groups are charting a new course.
No prior administration has ever dared to confront Big Pharma head on like this — not rhetorically, not legislative, not structurally, and no other administration has ever empowered its agencies to do so. That’s now changing.
This is what real leadership looks like. The bully pulpit being used to great effect. We are seeing companies across America phase out harmful chemicals from things like fast food fries and replacing them with healthy beef tallow. Others are voluntarily swapping artificial dyes and sugars for healthier, more natural ingredients for their products.
But the bully pulpit has to be matched with true regulatory reform, legislative victories and a coordinated team effort in order to make real, lasting change.
One lesson we must never forget and can’t ever let happen again is the authoritarian way our government responded to COVID-19. From vaccine mandates, forced masking and mask misinformation, to business closures and failed virtual learning, the government massively mishandled the pandemic.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, public health agencies, and school boards alike failed the American people.
That’s why I’m most grateful to be working with President Trump, Secretary Kennedy and a host of others in the administration to dig up what was hidden, to find what was never produced previously. What exactly went wrong and who was responsible?
What’s most notable about this movement is how it brought together three somewhat distinct groups for change against an entrenched establishment.
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We will continue to get to the bottom of it, but even in a short time, we have already banned gain-of-function research and restored congressional oversight of how scientific funding and studies are allocated.
There is still a lot of work left to do, but the progress so far has been both swift and substantive. I look forward to continuing this vital work in partnership with the Trump administration and putting the health and freedom of the American people ahead of bureaucratic power and special interests.