RFK Jr. says ‘entire departments’ at FDA ‘have to go’

(The Hill) — Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is slated to hold a potentially big role in a new Trump administration, said Wednesday there are “entire departments” within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that “have to go.”

“In some categories … there are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job. They’re not protecting our kids,” Kennedy said during an interview on MSNBC.

Kennedy endorsed President-elect Trump in August after initially running as a Democratic candidate for president, and then as an independent.

Trump’s win in the presidential race sets Kennedy up as a winner himself, who is likely to play some kind of role in health care for the Trump administration.

Kennedy last week said Trump assured him he would get a role in The White House if he won the presidential election.

“We don’t know what I’m going to do. I talked to the president about it yesterday, and he asked me what I wanted, and I said, we’re developing a proposal now,” Kennedy said during a separate interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, who asked if Kennedy is getting the job of Health and Human Services secretary.

That job would require Senate confirmation. Republicans appear likely to have a majority in the Senate of at least 52 seats, but it is unclear how easy it would be to get Kennedy confirmed. There has been plenty of speculation that Kennedy would serve in a role that does not require Senate confirmation.

Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, recently said Kennedy is “not getting a job” as HHS leader.

When asked if he would eliminate any health agencies, Kennedy told MSNBC, “to eliminate the agencies, as long as it requires congressional approval, I wouldn’t be doing that.”

“I can get the corruption out of the agencies,” he added.