Inside RFK Jr.’s rise at HHS: A bond with Trump and a MAHA appeal

WASHINGTON — On Independence Avenue, inside a gray brutalist building regarded by many as this city’s ugliest, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has constructed a monument to his family. 

Down the royal-blue-carpeted, brightly lit hallway to his private offices, framed historic American flags are interspersed with pennants featuring the campaigns and slogans of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and father, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy — with phrases like “A Time For Greatness: Kennedy for President” and “Welcome Jack.” 

Inside the secretary’s suite, steps from the homage to his Democratic forebears, the man himself commands an empire of roughly 62,000 workers (even after the massive cuts this year) with the largest budget of any federal agency. At 71, RFK Jr. has arrived as America’s leading voice on health and wellness, and an evangelist of his own particular school of thought. He is the nation’s 26th secretary of Health and Human Services, and already, arguably, the most disruptive.

It’s from here that he takes near-daily calls with President Trump, his aides sitting on the floor as the men speak, guiding the secretary on what to ask Trump or shepherding him through discussion items, per a former official granted anonymity to speak freely. 

It’s here that he’s an eager student, that official said, reading any HHS reports and articles he can get his hands on and shooting emails to advisers asking, “Where are we on this?”

When he’s not at the office, Kennedy, fit and unusually tan, stands out in this buttoned-down capital city as a celebrity. His adventures prior to becoming secretary were captured in entertaining headlines involving brain worms and dead bears, and he delights in mingling with the Hollywood crowd; he is married to actress Cheryl Hines.

Kennedy is followed by a phalanx of security — uncommon for a Cabinet secretary not in a defense or security role — posing for selfies as he pops into a Gold’s Gym or tanning salon, or dines in his regular booth at a restaurant once frequented by JFK.

STAT interviewed dozens of people, including nine directly in Kennedy’s orbit, to turn up never-before-reported details of his management style, work habits, relationship with the president, and motivations in leading perhaps the most sweeping overhaul ever of the nation’s health and science agencies. Reporters also examined his official statements and dozens of social media posts, finding that he frequently relied on misinformation to support policy decisions and misstated scientific evidence.