Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Secretary of Health and Human Services
8 findings
What the labels mean
- ConvictedA criminal jury found them guilty.
- Found liableA civil jury ruled against them.
- Court ruledA judge ruled against them or their policy.
- Watchdog foundAn inspector general, Congress's auditors at the GAO or UN investigators.
- AdmittedThey acknowledged it, or their own government's records and court filings show it.
- On recordSomething they said or did in public.
- ReportedNews reporting they deny or haven't confirmed.
- AllegedAccusations in lawsuits, complaints or from sources. Unproven.
Verdicts and rulings 2
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Court ruled
A federal judge froze his rewrite of the childhood vaccine schedule.
Kennedy cut the number of vaccines recommended for every child from 17 to 11. The judge temporarily blocked the change, suspended the appointments of the 13 advisers Kennedy had installed and stayed their votes. HHS has appealed.
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Court ruled
A judge temporarily blocked his teen-pregnancy grant cuts and said HHS relied on studies that “appear either not to exist or not to support the propositions for which they are cited.”
Judge Christopher Cooper said HHS “has offered no explanation or evidence” for funding only abstinence-based programs, and called the bad references “a hallmark of AI-generated citations.”
Admitted or on record 4
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On record
During the 2025 West Texas measles outbreak, he promoted vitamin A and cod liver oil. US cases in 2026 have reached 4,588, twice 2025’s 2,289.
Doctors at a Lubbock hospital treated children for vitamin A toxicity during the 2025 outbreak. Three people died, none of them vaccinated.
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On record
He fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel.
Then he canceled 22 mRNA vaccine projects worth about $500 million.
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Admitted
He personally ordered the CDC to stop saying vaccines don’t cause autism.
He also acknowledged that large studies of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, found no link.
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Admitted
He dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park.
He did it in 2014 and admitted it in 2024. He also said in a 2012 deposition that a doctor told him a worm had eaten part of his brain.
Reported and alleged 2
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Alleged
The CDC director he pushed out testified that he told her to approve vaccine recommendations in advance, without reviewing the science.
Susan Monarez said it to the Senate. She also said he directed her to fire career officials responsible for vaccine policy. Kennedy says she’s lying.
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Reported
His “Make America Healthy Again” report cited studies that don’t appear to exist.
NOTUS found seven of the 500-plus cited studies did not appear to have ever been published, and one listed author said she never wrote the paper credited to her. The White House said the report would be updated.