JD Vance And RFK Jr. Outline New Vision For America’s Health Policy At Washington Summit

At a high-level health summit in Washington, Vice President JD Vance joined Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to outline the Trump administration’s evolving public health strategy under its “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative. The event, which was largely closed to the press, showcased the administration’s growing alignment with Kennedy’s controversial approach to reshaping U.S. health policy. From battling ultra-processed foods to overhauling vaccine guidelines, Kennedy’s initiatives have sparked both support and alarm across medical and political circles.

During a fireside chat at the summit, Vance praised Kennedy for his willingness to challenge scientific conventions, calling him “a critical part of our success in Washington.” He said, “The most important thing about your team is that it asks questions that people in government have not asked in a long time.” Kennedy’s critics have long branded his skepticism toward vaccines and health agencies as dangerous, but Vance’s remarks reinforced the administration’s embrace of his disruptive style. “We have to be comfortable challenging old orthodoxies,” Vance added, describing Kennedy’s team as “unusual but necessary voices.”

President Donald Trump has largely allowed Kennedy to operate independently as health secretary, even amid public disagreements over vaccines and reproductive rights. Since taking office, Kennedy has overhauled several public health agencies, laid off thousands of employees, dismissed science advisers, and reframed federal health priorities around reducing exposure to environmental toxins. The White House has credited him for policies such as eliminating artificial dyes in foods, revising national dietary guidelines, and emphasizing natural health over pharmaceutical dependency.

Also Read: Rs 14-Crore ‘Miracle Cure’ Scam: Pune IT Engineer Duped by Self-Styled Godman for Daughter’s Health

Medical experts, however, have sounded alarms about what they call the administration’s drift from evidence-based medicine. Erik Polyak, executive director of the progressive group 314 Action, described the summit as “an ego-stroking symposium of wellbeing influencers and MAHA moms whose rejection of science puts public health at risk.” Many of Kennedy’s appointees and allies in the Department of Health have little to no background in medicine and are known for promoting alternative therapies or skepticism toward established medical consensus. Kennedy, defending his approach, said his movement seeks to “find root causes of chronic disease” rather than sustaining what he termed “a profit-driven health bureaucracy.”

The Washington summit followed a weekend conference in Austin, Texas, hosted by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy once led, featuring panels like “The Enduring Nightmare of COVID mRNA Technology.” The overlap between the two gatherings underscored the influence of Kennedy’s network in shaping current health debates. MAHA Action, the organization behind the Washington event, described Trump’s backing of Kennedy’s reforms as “a decisive turning point in U.S. health policy.” Tony Lyons, the group’s president, said, “Today marks the culmination of a movement forty years in the making.”

Also Read: Sanjay Raut Takes Two-Month Health Break, PM Modi Wishes Swift Recovery