White House Puts RFK Jr.'s HHS on Tighter Leash After MAHA Setbacks

WASHINGTON—The White House is more tightly controlling the messaging and policies—including around vaccines—coming from the Department of Health and Human Services ahead of the midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter.

Aides close to President Trump decided to take a more active role in managing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department in the face of polling that shows his vaccine moves are unpopular, the people said. Although Trump brought Kennedy into his administration with the promise that the vaccine skeptic and ultraprocessed-food critic could “go wild on health,” administration officials grew increasingly frustrated with what they viewed as foul-ups inside Kennedy’s department, according to people familiar with the matter. Aides close to Trump grew worried that perceived disorganization and a focus on vaccines could damage the president’s party in November, those people said.

Some people close to both Kennedy and the White House said the secretary’s standing among some staff is at a new low following a series of setbacks for his Make America Healthy Again agenda. But Kennedy continues to be in good standing with the president himself, according to people familiar with their relationship.

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A series of miscues over the past year led the White House to shake up leadership at HHS, people familiar with the matter said. Administration officials found fault with Kennedy’s initial tepid response to the measles outbreak in Texas. Top officials in Kennedy’s health department last year were surprised and annoyed by the Food and Drug Administration’s surprise approval of a generic form of the abortion pill, according to officials familiar with the matter. The White House was dismayed by grant cuts for mental health and substance abuse in January—cuts that the department had to walk back quickly after outcry from Capitol Hill. Drama surrounding the FDA came to be a continuing headache for administration officials.

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