RFK Jr. would also have the power, along with the FDA commissioner, to slow down or hamper the process by which new vaccines are evaluated, approved, and recommended. That could discourage pharmaceutical companies from developing new or reformulated vaccines.

Marty Makary, who Trump nominated to lead the FDA and work with RFK Jr., opposed vaccine mandates during the pandemic.

Kennedy has been most vocal about the FDA, an agency that oversees nearly $3 trillion in medicines, food and tobacco products.

Kennedy, who lacks a background in science or public health, appears intent on remaking the FDA based on assumptions and conspiracy theories

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) head of vaccine safety says that President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of vaccine skeptics could be an opportunity for the science community to teach the public about the value of these life-saving drugs.

In one of his most controversial Cabinet picks, President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Here, we summarize our past work fact-checking Kennedy's claims about health and science.