Billionaire, former New York City mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is calling on Senate Republicans to oust Robert F Kennedy Jr from his post as Trump’s health secretary.
Kennedy was arguably the nation’s most prominent conspiracy theorist and vaccine skeptic when he was confirmed by the Senate, and he has spent much of his tenure throwing vaccine policy into upheaval amid an historic measles outbreak.
“Kennedy, who has no training in medicine or health, has long been the nation’s foremost peddler of junk science and the crackpot conspiracy theories that flow from it,” wrote Bloomberg in an opinion piece for his eponymous news outlet.
Kennedy became health secretary after joining the Trump campaign in August 2024, and helping coin the term “make America healthy again”. Although Kennedy has spent most of his public appearances campaigning for healthier foods, often with a flimsy basis in nutrition science, most of his policy changes have focused on vaccines.
He fired all 17 members of a key vaccine advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and reformulated the panel with ideological allies – including advocates directly from the anti-vaccine movement.
He also made Covid-19 shots more difficult to access; oversaw the cancellation of research into vaccines and vaccine hesitancy; spread inflammatory information about vaccines and equivocated about their benefits.
“The greatest danger in elevating him to [Health and Human Services] (HHS) secretary was always that he would use his position to undermine public confidence in vaccines, which would lead to needless suffering and even death,” Bloomberg argued. “And so it has come to pass.”
Bloomberg said that Kennedy’s actions were predictable, but that Senate Republicans either “deceived themselves” or “buckled to political pressure” to confirm Kennedy. He urged Republicans to pressure the White House to constrain Kennedy “or fire him”. If Americans die unnecessarily, Bloomberg said, Senate Republicans will pay at the ballot box.
The upheaval in vaccine policy comes as the CDC is tracking an historic measles outbreak that began in an under-vaccinated community in Texas. More than 1,300 confirmed measles cases have been reported since mid-July – though experts believe the true tally is far higher. That is the worst case count since 1992 at only halfway through the year.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. A supremely effective vaccine, preventing 97% of cases with two doses, meant it was nevertheless eliminated in 2000. Experts now believe the US may be entering a “post-herd immunity” era.
Three people have died in the 2025 outbreak, including two healthy children and an adult. All were unvaccinated. Measles kills between one-three children per 1,000 due to respiratory or neurological complications, according to the CDC. The disease can also cause permanent disability due to brain swelling, and weaken the immune system against future infections.
“In the aftermath of the deaths, he did not use his position to urge parents to vaccinate their children, or warn of the dangers of failing to do so, or declare vaccines safe, or allay misplaced concerns about them,” wrote Bloomberg.
“Instead, he did what he has been doing for decades: He presented the safety and efficacy of vaccines as an open question for individuals to decide. Not surprisingly, the outbreak continued – and has worsened,” he wrote.
The Guardian has contacted HHS for comment.
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