RFK Jr. Has Vowed to Pause All Research On Drug Development And Infectious Disease As Well As Fire and Prosecute Hundreds of NIH Employees
Washington, DC – As the Trump administration continues to push for large-scale NIH funding cuts that scientists warn will drop an “atomic bomb” on lifesaving medical research, some Republican senators are now claiming that they’re “concerned” about the impact of gutting NIH. Republican Senators like Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), and Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) have pushed back on the NIH cuts, but these senators are also openly supporting the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the architect of the plan to slash NIH funding. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:
“If Republicans were truly concerned about Donald Trump’s NIH cuts, then they would not be lining up to confirm RFK Jr., the architect of the plan to gut NIH funding. The same Republican senators who are speaking out against NIH cuts are happily backing RFK Jr. to lead America’s health care system despite his promises to defund NIH, stop all research on drug development and infectious disease, and fire and prosecute NIH employees. Republicans are putting loyalty to Trump ahead of the health and well-being of the American people, and millions of families will suffer as a result of Trump, RFK Jr., and Republicans’ reckless decisions to slash medical research funding.”
Background
Kennedy Says He Will Pause All Research On Drug Development And Infectious Disease. At a June 2024 town hall meeting Kennedy said, “I’m going to go to NIH my first week and I’m going to call all the division heads and I’m going to call all the bureau chiefs and I’m going to say, we’re going to give drug development and infectious disease a break. A little break, a little bit of a break for about eight years.” These remarks echo what he told an anti-vaccine conference in November 2023, when he said, “I’m gonna say to NIH scientists, God bless you all. Thank you for [your] public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” Kennedy has also claimed that he will go after medical journals and redirect funding away from epidemiology, a practice that seeks to prevent and control the spread of disease.
Kennedy Has Vowed to Fire and Prosecute Hundreds of NIH And FDA Employees. Kennedy claims to have a list of 600 employees of the NIH that he plans to fire on day one. Before the 2024 election, Kennedy posted on social media, “FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.” During a “Make America Healthy Again” event in October 2024, Kennedy also said he would fire every nutritional scientist at the FDA “on day 1,” claiming he would otherwise “ship them to a new HHS headquarters in Guam” if unable to fire them. Kennedy has threatened to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci and he claimed that he would eliminate “entire departments” and hundreds of employees at the FDA.
Kennedy: “I Do Not Believe That Infectious Disease Is An Enormous Threat To Human Health.” At a 2023 roundtable, Kennedy said he does “not believe that infectious disease is an enormous threat to human health.” Kennedy also claimed that “medical research on these diseases and vaccine research has created some of the worst plagues in our history” and baselessly asserted that vaccine research was responsible for the creation of HIV, the Spanish flu, Lyme, and RSV.