Trump Orders Creation of MAHA Commission With RFK Jr. As Chair

Within hours of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation as HHS secretary, President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating a commission to study and report on chronic diseases among children that Kennedy will chair.

Neither the executive order nor the fact sheet that supports it mention vaccines. The fact sheet does, however, mention the prevalence of autism, which antivaccine groups have linked to vaccine. It also mentions the overmedication of children as a “growing concern,” and the order says the commission should, among other issues, assess “the prevalence of and threat” of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.

Health insurance is mentioned just once in the policy directives part of the executive order. Federal agencies should ensure availability of expanded treatment options and the flexibility “for health insurance coverage to provide benefits that support beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention,” says the order.

Kennedy has talked about undue corporate influence on health and other federal government agencies. The order mentions restoring “the integrity of science, including by eliminating undue industry influence” and establishing “a framework for transparency and ethics review in industry-funded projects.”

The commission is named the Make America Healthy Again commission. Kennedy’s views about vaccines came under sharper scrutiny after he endorsed Trump in August and was seen as headed for influential role if Trump were to win the presidency. But earlier, as an independent presidential candidate, Kennedy broadened his message to chronic disease rates and the poor health of Americans, and today’s executive orders echoes He later attached the slogan Make America Healthy Again, abbreviated to MAHA, to his views and those efforts.

The executive order calls for the commission to submit an assessment of U.S. childhood health within 100 days of the order and within 180, a strategy based on the assessment.