While President Donald Trump marked his 100th day in office in late April, the 100th day for Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will come this week on May 24. Following a high-profile confirmation battle that concluded with a 52-48 vote in the Senate on February 13, here’s what Kennedy has been up to over his first 100 days in his crusade to “Make America Healthy Again.”
Major Structural Overhaul of HHS
Upon assuming office, Secretary Kennedy wasted no time launching the most dramatic restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services in decades. In lockstep with President Trump’s effort to reduce government bloat through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Kennedy spearheaded a bold initiative to downsize his department’s workforce by nearly 25 percent — eliminating over 20,000 positions. The move, which brought the total HHS headcount down from 82,000 to 62,000, stunned the Washington establishment but signaled Kennedy’s commitment to results over bureaucracy.
Appearing on NewsNation with Stephen A. Smith, Kennedy responded directly to critics who claimed the department could not function with such a reduced staff. “During the Biden administration, my agency grew by 38 percent and Americans got sicker,” he said. “It’s not throwing money at it or hiring people that is solving the problem. Ninety-five percent of our health care budget is going to chronic disease… Seventy-four percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service. So this is an existential threat to our national security… It’s an existential threat to our economy, and we have to narrowly focus on that. That’s what the new HHS is doing.”
This focused realignment also saw the formation of a new entity: the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. By consolidating several fragmented public health agencies, AHA is designed to increase accountability and prioritize Kennedy’s central mission—reversing the chronic disease epidemic plaguing American families.
Vaccine Policy Revisions
One of Kennedy’s most watched – and most misunderstood – policy shifts came in the form of revised federal vaccine policy.
Throughout his presidential campaign and confirmation process, Kennedy’s critics smeared him as an “anti-vaxxer,” falsely claiming that he is opposed to all vaccines. However, as Kennedy repeatedly made clear, he only wants to ensure that all vaccines are held to the highest testing and safety standards, that claims about potential harms from vaccines are given a fair hearing, and that Americans have the most accurate, up-to-date information possible when making health decisions for themselves and their children.
To this end, Kennedy has directed the FDA to revise its standards to require that all new vaccines undergo placebo-controlled clinical trials, a gold standard in evidence-based medicine that had often been waived in favor of expedited approvals. After decades of the pharmaceutical industry holding immense influence over public health officials, Kennedy is finally breaking that grip and ensuring that vaccine policy is driven by science, not corporate dollars.
In a sharp reversal from the Biden administration, the HHS under Kennedy also announced last week that it will no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women, and the FDA is reportedly planning to “re-assess” the risks and benefits of COVID-19 booster shots.
There could well be more changes to federal vaccine policy in the months and years ahead as more data becomes available. In his first address to department staff after taking office, Kennedy said a commission would investigate the childhood vaccination schedule, questioning whether it was among “possible factors” tied to poor health in the U.S. He also reportedly has plans for a long-term study on potential links between vaccines and autism.
In both of these instances, Kennedy has been careful to note that he wants to avoid arriving at any predetermined conclusions. His goal, as he has repeatedly stated, is to let the science and research guide the way.
Kennedy’s appointment sparked an immediate backlash from legacy media outlets and establishment figures within the public health world. But true to form, Kennedy hasn’t flinched. He has pointed to the corporate media’s complicity in covering up failures of Big Pharma and accused many journalists of parroting talking points that protect profit margins rather than public health.
That began during his confirmation hearing, when he specifically called out Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other members of Congress for accepting millions of dollars in donations from pharmaceutical companies. Kennedy has also exposed how HHS became a “collaborator for child trafficking” during the Biden administration, dismantled media scaremongering about measles, and torched Democrats for spreading lies about Medicaid fraud.
Rather than play defense, Kennedy has gone on offense, taking advantage of new communication platforms to bypass legacy media gatekeepers and speak directly to the American people. In doing so, he’s shifting the terms of the public health debate and making space for previously silenced voices.
Research and Public Health Initiatives
One of the earliest and most visionary moves of Kennedy’s tenure was the creation of the Make America Healthy Again Commission, formed under Executive Order 14212. Its mission: to investigate the root causes of the chronic disease explosion in American children. The commission’s scope is ambitious, examining the impact of childhood vaccines, SSRIs, pesticides, food additives, environmental toxins, and ultra-processed diets.
“We will convene representatives of all viewpoints to study the causes of a drastic rise in chronic disease. Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formerly taboo, or insufficiently scrutinized,” Kennedy explained. “Nothing is going to be off limits.”
The need for such a commission is indisputable. According to UCLA Health, one in three young Americans suffers from a chronic health condition that significantly affects their quality of life. Kennedy has promised concrete answers by August.
Autism is also under the microscope. Citing the staggering increase in diagnoses – from one in 150 children two decades ago to one in 31 today – Kennedy has classified autism as a public health emergency. His department has pledged to uncover the root causes and halt the trend, no matter where the evidence leads.
Elsewhere, Kennedy has taken bold steps to rein in risky federal research. He suspended certain NIH-run infectious disease programs, including gain-of-function studies, citing safety concerns and lack of public accountability.
Streamlining Nutrition and Welfare Policies
Kennedy has taken decisive action to confront the food crisis fueling much of America’s chronic illness. One of his first moves was banning petroleum-based food dyes – such as Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 – that have been linked to cancer and behavioral problems. These dyes, still allowed by the FDA despite known risks, are now on their way out under HHS enforcement.
Kennedy is also working in tandem with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to revise the 2025 – 2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For the first time, the guidelines will emphasize MAHA values: whole foods, reduced sugar, and nutrient-rich meals. “The 10th Edition milestone provides an opportunity for HHS to support healthy eating and Make America Healthy Again,” the HHS website now declares.
Beyond that, Kennedy has launched Operation Stork Speed to ensure safer, more nutritious baby formula for American infants. He is also reforming the FDA’s “Generally Recognized As Safe” designation, which has long allowed questionable additives into the food supply with little oversight. And in a move applauded by food reform advocates, he has backed state-level restrictions on junk food purchases through SNAP.
Taking Health Sovereignty to the States
Kennedy’s MAHA vision has sparked a nationwide movement. “We’ve had a wave. I think we have MAHA legislation now in 36 states,” he said recently. These state-level initiatives are building on the federal effort, supporting reforms in school lunches, vaccine mandates, food labeling, and mental health programs.
With Kennedy at the helm, HHS is no longer a sluggish bureaucracy. It’s a nimble force for reform, willing to challenge entrenched interests in medicine, agriculture, and industry. By supporting both federal and state-level MAHA policies, Kennedy is creating a durable foundation for long-term public health improvement.
In just 100 days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has redefined HHS’s role in building a healthier America. He has transformed a bloated agency into a focused instrument of national renewal. He has brought long-suppressed debates into the light. He has dared to ask the hard questions – and begun to find answers.
During his confirmation process, Kennedy promised to “remove the financial and political shackles from science and public health.” 100 days later, that promise is already taking shape. The mission to Make America Healthy Again is not just a slogan – it is a strategy, a philosophy, and a revolution.
Kamden Mulder is a senior at Hillsdale College pursuing a degree in American Studies and Journalism. You can follow her on X @kamdenmulder_.
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