At a recent Senate hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said something I never thought I’d hear from a top federal health official: “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”
That wasn’t a dodge. That was honesty. And, frankly, it’s a breath of fresh air.
For too long, health bureaucrats in Washington have believed their job is to dictate Americans’ medical decisions. That mindset led to lockdowns, mandates, censorship, and the sidelining of safe, effective tools that were widely distributed earlier in the pandemic, such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Secretary Kennedy’s testimony suggests a different view: the role of government is not to play doctor, but to protect the freedom of every American to decide what’s best for their own health.
That’s the right idea and the essence of true healthcare choice.
Contrast this with the last administration. Under President Joe Biden, Americans were forced to choose between a vaccine they didn’t want — with a plethora of boosters — and continued restrictions on their liberties.
Biden didn’t promote vaccine choice. He aggressively pushed vaccines and boosters as the primary defense from COVID. Meanwhile, monoclonal antibodies — preventive and therapeutic tools that cut the risk of hospitalization and death as high as 74% and 84% in high-risk patients — were pushed aside. The administration significantly scaled back their distribution even though mAbs successfully treated President Donald Trump and were backed by countless doctors who called for broader access.
Why? Because the Biden White House chose to prioritize vaccination above all else. It preferred to micromanage Americans’ care rather than empower families to make informed decisions.
That wasn’t science, it was politics. And Americans paid the price.
As my son Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, also a medical doctor, said countless times, some patients were even denied mAbs due to what he described as “partisan political games” — namely, the politically-charged FDA guidance that many hospitals felt pressured to follow throughout the pandemic. Five years later, the FDA still hasn’t fully approved a monoclonal antibody product.
That’s not “following the science” or respecting the people’s right and ability to make their own health care decisions. That’s the worst type of government overreach — micromanaging your medical decisions by erecting regulatory roadblocks designed to limit your options by and control what treatments and preventatives you can access. When Washington dictates what care you’re allowed to pursue, what opinions you’re allowed to hear, and what shots you’re required to take, you’re no longer living in a free country.
Now, under a new administration and with Secretary Kennedy at the helm of HHS, there’s an opportunity to chart a new course — one rooted in freedom, not fear.
Americans should have access to vaccines if they want them, but they should also have access to alternatives like mAbs. They should be allowed to hear all sides of a medical debate, not just the one approved by government “experts.” And they should be trusted to make informed choices for themselves and their families.
Secretary Kennedy’s comments may not have pleased the political class, but they honored the principle this country was founded on: government serves the people, not the other way around.
Real health policy doesn’t come from control. It comes from having confidence in the American people to make their own choices. At this early stage, I’m so glad that Secretary Kennedy seems to understand as much.
The Navajo Nation’s Democrat President Buu Nygren met with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Council Delegate Germaine Simonson at Window Rock on Wednesday. The trio discussed the ongoing issue of access to critical healthcare on tribal land.
According to a press release issued via X, the meeting centered around “solutions rooted in sovereignty, tradition, and self-reliance.”
SECRETARY OF HEALTH ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. VISITS NAVAJO NATION
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Against the backdrop of the iconic Window Rock arch, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren sat on a sandstone cliff with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Council… pic.twitter.com/biU8xu5Pgm
— Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren (@BuuVanNygren) April 9, 2025
Kennedy, as part of his nationwide “Make America Healthy Again” tour, had previously met in Phoenix with members of the State legislature, and traveled to northern Arizona and the Navajo Nation to meet with tribal leaders including President Nygren, First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, Speaker Crystalyne Curley, members of the 25th Navajo Nation Council, and officials from the Navajo Department of Health.
President Nygren noted in his remarks that much of the disparity and strain on the Navajo Nation healthcare system is linked to the Indian Health Services’ manpower shortage with the service currently running at a 30% vacancy rate.
Nygren emphasized that the solution must come in a way that protects the tribe’s sovereignty, however. “As President, I want to emphasize the importance of protecting and maintaining tribal sovereignty among food and healthcare for the Navajo Nation,” he said.
Answering these concerns, Kennedy expressed his support and provided a roadmap to addressing the tribal government’s concerns. “By lifting the IHS hiring freeze and rescinding the hundreds of employee terminations,” Secretary Kennedy said, “it will not happen.”
“Today we learned many things that HHS could be doing to improve the condition of Navajo health…” he added, with a focus on the need for secured water rights that will allow the Navajo to become self-sufficient once again.
In a post to X, Kennedy described his visit saying, “Today I had the pleasure to visit Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona. I joined Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and members of the Navajo Nation Council for a hike, followed by a traditional blessing and a performance of the Diné Tah Dancers.”
“We discussed Navajo Nation’s efforts to promote health and wellness within their community and how HHS can support these goals. My administration remains committed to making Indian Country a top priority.”
Today I had the pleasure to visit Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona. I joined Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and members of the Navajo Nation Council for a hike, followed by a traditional blessing and a performance of the Diné Tah Dancers.
Buu, a Democrat, stressed in a statement that his recent trip to the White House and Kennedy’s trip to Window Rock represented an effort to work with the federal government in the Navajo Nation’s interests, regardless of partisan considerations.
He wrote,” I need our Navajo people to understand that no matter what our political party affiliation is, we must work with the federal administration – whoever is in office – to fight poverty on the Navajo Nation and to protect our interests. In the past two days, I have spoken to several federal officials to discuss the coal industry, our water rights settlements, RECA, the protection of the Indian Health Service, and social programs our people rely on. As a Nation, we must act like a Nation and work with the United States. We must work with the federal government based on our treaty and on a government-to-government basis.”
President Nygren was elected in 2022, defeating incumbent former-President Jonathan Nez by a narrow margin of less than six percent. The Navajo Nation leans heavily Democrat in most elections, however, 2024 exit polling suggested that support for the Trump administration has significantly increased with Native News Online citing polls showing President Trump received 51% of Native American votes in the presidential election.
A bill sponsored by Arizona State Representative Leo Biasiucci (R-LD30) HB 2164 to ban several food dyes and toxic chemicals from foods served in Arizona schools passed the Arizona Senate unanimously on Tuesday. At the time, actor-turned-conservative activist Rob Schneider and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were visiting the Capitol as part of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ tour.
Both Kennedy and Schneider joined Biasiucci at the Capitol in Phoenix with the Representative posting to X, “It was honor to have @SecKennedy visit the Arizona Legislature today as my bill to ban toxic food dyes from schools passed 28-0 in the Senate. I look forward to doing whatever I can to help him Make America Healthy Again!”
It was honor to have @SecKennedy visit the Arizona Legislature today as my bill to ban toxic food dyes from schools passed 28-0 in the Senate. I look forward to doing whatever I can to help him Make America Healthy Again! 🇺🇸#MAHA@RobSchneiderpic.twitter.com/E5Jcz2XlXK
If signed into law, the bill would ban foods on school campuses which are deemed to be harmful. When the bill was announced in February, Biasiucci stood beside Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp (R-LD29) and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and explained the ban to include foods found to contain ingredients that scientific studies have found to be harmful to students health, including potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, yellow dyes 5 and 6, blue dyes 1 and 2, red dyes 3 and 40, and green dye 3.
“Our kids deserve better than artificial dyes and cheap fillers in their lunches. If we’re providing meals at school, they should be real, nutritious food—not the kind of processed junk that’s banned in other countries. This bill puts the health of Arizona’s children first, plain and simple,” Biasiucci said at the time.
Posting to X after the vote Schneider wrote, “Thank YOU to ALL the legislators in Arizona on BOTH sides of the aisle for putting the HEALTH of CHILDREN before partisan politics…”
Thank YOU to ALL the legislators in Arizona on BOTH sides of the aisle for putting the HEALTH of CHILDREN before partisan politics… https://t.co/7KzULtq5jQ
“I would like to first thank the Democrats in the state legislature here for joining Republicans unanimously for doing what’s best for our children,” said Biasiucci. “This is not partisan, this is people, these are our children, these are the most important and precious members of our society, this is our future, this is everything. It really is a testament to this great state that we can get together and do something that is 100% positive for everyone in this state. A lot of kids this will be their only meal of the day… let’s get them the best things.”
During the proceedings, Kennedy told reporters, “It’s happening at the grassroots. People are saying we are not going to take it anymore. We are not going to be mass poisoned.”
Rep. Biasiucci added, “A lot of times you have to sacrifice your language, you have to make edits, make amendments to get it across the finish line. I wanted to get the bill across the finish line, because sometimes you need to have that impact, you need to make that change happen before the conversation continues in the future.”
Kennedy agreed saying, “Believe me, I would like to solve the entire processed food problem, but we’re not going to do that overnight. We’re going to do it in the next four years.”
