An Allegheny County state House member says appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human services would be harmful to Americans. State Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-North Hills) is calling on United States Sen. John Fetterman and Senator-elect Dave McCormick to oppose Kennedy’s nomination.
A practicing emergency physician, Venkat was re-elected to the House this month and joined a health care advocacy group Tuesday to highlight Kennedy's record on vaccine skepticism.
“This is not simply a matter of differences on the health care agenda that the incoming Trump administration may have,” Venkat said. “This fundamentally goes to whether we will protect the health and well-being of our fellow Pennsylvanians and Americans or not.”
Protect Our Care research director Rebecca Parks said Kennedy also deals in outright “conspiracy theories” including claims that fluoride in water is dangerous to children; that antidepressant medications are tied to school shootings; and that 5G cellular and Wi-Fi networks cause cancer.
Protect Our Care is run by a former member of President Barack Obama’s administration.
Venkat also said Kennedy lacks the managerial experience to run a department that has a budget of $150 billion and is responsible for disease prevention, Medicare and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
“Simply put, he is wholly unqualified and frankly dangerous to the public health and well-being of our country,” Venkat said.
The U.S. Senate votes to confirm cabinet nominees after the president-elect takes office in January. Venkat implored Pennsylvania’s Senators to vote “no” on Kennedy. He pointed to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advocacy in American Samoa, where a drop in vaccination rates was followed by 83 measles deaths among children.
Parker noted Kennedy’s influence has already led to more parents questioning necessary measles and polio vaccines, especially in Florida, where the state’s surgeon general “stopped encouraging children for vaccination.”
Neither Fetterman’s office nor the McCormick campaign responded Tuesday afternoon when asked how they would vote.
Fetterman recently said he’d vote to confirm some Trump nominees. Other Democrats have shown some affinity for Kennedy’s food policies — among them New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Still others say they haven’t made up their minds on Trump’s nominees, such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
McCormick was endorsed by Trump in the 2024 campaign, and frequently appeared alongside him during campaign stops.
