Trump expected to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS

The choice will roil many public health experts after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism.

Donald Trump shakes hands with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Turning Point Action campaign rally in Duluth, Georgia, on Oct. 23, 2024. | Alex Brandon/AP

By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Meridith McGraw

11/14/2024 03:29 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the selection.

The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect. It’s also a sign of the opening Trump sees after he scored a decisive electoral victory and Republicans won a comfortable majority in the Senate.