Following a heated first stage of the confirmation process, the Senate Finance Committee advanced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for HHS Secretary, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown over the future of American healthcare. Action Alert!
THE TOPLINE
- Following intense hearings, the Senate Finance Committee moved forward with confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. now faces a full Senate vote.
- The Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH-USA) recently hosted a luncheon advocating for RFK Jr.’s nomination and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda.
- There are deep financial ties between big pharma and the senators who made the decision on whether to support RFK’s confirmation.
On January 29, 2025, ANH-USA hosted a powerful luncheon briefing at the U.S. Senate’s Visitor Center to rally support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). While RFK Jr. was in the latter stages of his first confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, ANH convened a briefing to discuss the urgent need for transparency, patient-centered healthcare, and an end to corporate influence over public health.
The event also marked the official launch of The MAHA Mandate: Reversing America’s Chronic Disease Epidemic, co-authored by ANH founder and ANH-USA Executive & Scientific Director Robert Verkerk, PhD, and ANH General Counsel Jonathan Emord, JD.
RFK’s confirmation process moved forward earlier this week when the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance his nomination. RFK Jr. will now face a full Senate vote.
Ron Hoffman, MD, ANH-USA’s President and Medical Director, helped represent ANH-USA at the event, alongside Dr. Verkerk and Jonathan Emord. Reflecting on the momentous occasion, Dr. Hoffman told us:
It was exhilarating seeing a broad coalition of natural health and health freedom advocates gather under the auspices of ANH at a press event in support of the confirmation of RFK Jr. for Secretary of HHS. I was honored to share the podium with Dr. Rob Verkerk and Jonathan Emord who delivered inspiring calls to action to make America healthy again! We had the opportunity to meet with press attendees and then took our campaign to the halls of Congress to encourage senators to vote on behalf of millions of citizens and health practitioners calling for a sea change in our health policies, addressing root causes of our epidemic of chronic disease. I’ve never felt so hopeful about the future of American healthcare!
Photos courtesy of Jim Halling Photography
A Broken Healthcare System in Crisis
It’s become painfully obvious for anyone paying attention that our healthcare system is broken. America spends more money on healthcare than any other nation on the planet, close to 20% of its GDP, yet sits, according to the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 49th in world rankings of life expectancy and a shocking 88th in terms of healthy years of life expectancy. Chronic diseases—many preventable through lifestyle and dietary interventions—are at epidemic levels and continuing to worsen, exacerbated by a system that prioritizes pharmaceutical interventions over genuine health promotion.
Reflecting on the results of RFK Jr.’s nod by the Finance Committee with razor margin of 14-13, the votes following party lines, Rob Verkerk said,
Having negotiated this major hurdle in the Senate, it’s looking ever more likely that RFK Jr. will be confirmed as Secretary of HHS following the full Senate vote. This victory was won against all odds, with pharma and other special interests throwing vast sums of money at senators as well as into negative PR campaigns that aimed to discredit RFK Jr. His confirmation will provide us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to root out corruption and backroom deals and to shift the healthcare paradigm towards one that restores the health of the American people through a holistic and individual-centered approach that works with, rather than against, nature.
Dirty Pharma Lobby Attempted to Scupper RFK Jr.’s Senate Vote
The biggest obstacle to RFK Jr.’s confirmation isn’t the inappropriateness or impracticality of his policies—it’s the entrenched influence of big pharma and big food on Congress.
A report prepared by Big Cypress Research released just a day before our Capitol Hill event and RFK Jr.’s first confirmation hearing highlights the deep financial ties between members of the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committees and the pharmaceutical industry. The report revealed that both Republican and Democratic senators who voted on RFK Jr.’s confirmation have received substantial contributions from big pharma over their careers. Given the intended political capture, it was of interest that Republican senators were still responsive to constituents, their leader, or both, in voting for RFK Jr. and against pharma interests.
Image source: https://x.com/StateShieldUSA/status/1884762226818420880/photo/3
For further information on drug company donations to US politicians and parties, see OpenSecrets.
With billions of dollars at stake, the pharmaceutical industry has a deep, vested interest in blocking RFK Jr. at his next hurdle before the full Senate, in the knowledge that his policies would expose their corruptive influence on the political and regulatory system and, in the process, up-end their profit-driven business-with-disease model.
Constitutional lawyer Jonathan Emord addressed these and other issues, stating:
The ANH event on Capitol Hill in support of Bobby Kennedy’s nomination sent a major signal to the US Senate that the American people are health conscious, and they insist on Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. Through that agenda, America will put the American people first, including their interest in healthy foods and safe and effective drugs. There is a lot to be done, and ANH is pursuing a series of reforms through petitions, suits, and legislation. Four years from now, Americans will be far healthier than they are today. They will live longer, healthier lives. This is a momentous opportunity. We believe in the end the US Senate will bend to the wishes of the American people and confirm Bobby Kennedy.
Restoring Transparency and Freedom in Healthcare
This undue corporate influence over health policy is one of the main themes of Verkerk and Emord’s book, The MAHA Mandate. One of RFK Jr.’s central priorities as HHS Secretary will be dismantling the corporate stranglehold over federal health agencies.
With the HHS budget totaling $1.7 trillion—one-quarter of the federal budget—there is little transparency in how these funds are allocated. This systemic secrecy has contributed to major public health crises, including the opioid epidemic, which has resulted in over $50 billion in settlements.
We’ve also seen the public health bureaucratic apparatus try to crack down on “misinformation,” working with platforms to censor content that does not align with government advice on health and nutrition. This artificially narrows the debate and prevents honest conversations about complex and often inconclusive scientific topics.
A Call to Action
Grassroots efforts must continue to support RFK Jr.’s confirmation and advocate for the transformation of America’s failing healthcare system. It is more critical than ever to raise public awareness about the forces working to maintain the status quo.
ANH-USA remains committed to fighting for a future where Americans have access to unbiased, patient-centered healthcare—free from corporate manipulation.
Action Alert! Write to your senators and urge them to support the confirmation of RFK Jr for HHS Secretary. Please send your message immediately.
