Newly Confirmed HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Reveals One Place Where ‘We Really Need To Change Policies’

After sailing through his confirmation vote with the support of all but one Republican Senator, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to hit the ground running this week.

During a Fox News Channel interview on Thursday, he specified a few of his priorities, including one program he said is actively contributing to a health crisis impacting Americans of all ages.

As the Daily Caller reported:

Kennedy was confirmed as the new HHS secretary on Thursday, with the Senate’s final vote hitting 52-48. On “The Ingraham Angle,” Fox News’ Laura Ingraham said his critics will call his new plan a “nanny state.” She asked if he would ban food items like McDonald’s Big Mac.

“Oh, we’re not going to take [that away]. That’s what I’m saying. If you want to eat a Big Mac, you ought to,” Kennedy said. “But you ought to. But, you know, McDonald’s ought to be incentivized to use beef tallow when it’s cooking its Big Macs. So that they’re good for people rather than using seed oils or some other cooking oils that are actually going to probably make you sicker.”

“So we want to do a number of things but not take away choice from people,” Kennedy added. “The one place that I would say that we need to really change policies is in the SNAP program and food stamps and in school lunches because there the federal government in many cases is paying for it. We shouldn’t be subsidizing people to eat poison.”

SNAP, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program, provides food benefits to low-income families. Within a 2021 USDA report, the study said that nearly nine out of 10 SNAP participants faced barriers in “providing their households with a healthy diet throughout the month.”

Kennedy, who began the 2024 campaign as a Democratic candidate before launching an independent White House bid and ultimately aligning with Trump, offered his seemingly sincere gratitude to the president after securing his confirmation:

RFK JR.'S PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED "GOD SENT ME PRESIDENT TRUMP"@RobertKennedyJr gives a gracious speech after being sworn in. He says that President Trump has kept EVERY PROMISE and he is the ONE to save our country. pic.twitter.com/eGCpXkYg21

— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) February 13, 2025

The already ambitious pursuits of Trump’s second term now include a number of reforms within the purview of HHS:

🔥 President Trump will sign an Executive Order today BARRING federal funding from schools with Covid-19 vaccine mandates

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. will “provide a plan to end coercive Covid-19 vaccine mandates” to President Trump

GREAT. Now eliminate the Department of Education… pic.twitter.com/zv51g33gsr

— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) February 14, 2025

Trump: He’s going to be running it.. that’s my plan. We’re going to find out a lot of secrets that have maybe kept from us. I think RFK JR is going to go down in the record books pic.twitter.com/Klo6rzZcxL

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 13, 2025

As for the lone GOP holdout, NPR reported on why Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he voted alongside every Senate Democrat:

He issued a statement Thursday on Kennedy’s nomination that explains his views in stark terms:

“I’m a survivor of childhood polio. In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles.

“Individuals, parents, and families have a right to push for a healthier nation and demand the best possible scientific guidance on preventing and treating illness. But a record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions does not entitle Mr. Kennedy to lead these important efforts.

“This Administration – led by the same President who delivered a medical miracle with Project Warp Speed – deserves a leader who is willing to acknowledge without qualification the efficacy of life-saving vaccines and who can demonstrate an understanding of basic elements of the U.S. healthcare system. Mr. Kennedy failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America’s largest health agency. As he takes office, I sincerely hope Mr. Kennedy will choose not to sow further doubt and division but to restore trust in our public health institutions.”

Here’s how Trump responded to McConnell’s decision: