President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., faced sharp questioning and intense criticism from Democratic U.S. Senators during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to convince a Congressional committee to confirm him as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, the environmental lawyer and controversial activist was an undergraduate at Harvard University looking to satisfy his last requirement for graduation: a senior thesis.

Kennedy showed up with his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, to meet with the prime minister, health minister and other health officials in 2019. Kennedy says he promoted a “medical informatics system” that would "assess the efficacy and safety of every medical intervention or drug on overall health.”

Trump’s decision to release these files comes in the wake of strong advocacy from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of RFK, who has long pushed for the declassification of documents related to his uncle’s assassination.

Trump announces the release of classified files on MLK Jr., JFK, and RFK assassinations, with the King family requesting a review first.

Memphis, Tennessee, Jan. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The National Civil Rights Museum is closely monitoring efforts to declassify national intelligence files related to the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Kennedy wants to create "wellness drug rehabilitation farms." But the U.S. tried it before, and it didn't work.

Mr. Kennedy appears to have most Republicans behind him as he seeks the job of health secretary, though he couldn’t escape his past stances on vaccines and abortion.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s frequent questioning of the safety of childhood vaccinations over the years is persisting as an issue in his confirmation hearings to become the Trump administration's top health official.

Alexandra Sifferlin, a health and science editor for Times Opinion, hosted an online conversation on Wednesday with the Opinion columnist Zeynep Tufekci and the Opinion writers David Wallace-Wells and Jessica Grose about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first of two confirmation hearings for secretary of health and human services.

Kennedy minimized and denied controversial things he had said in podcasts, conferences or TV interviews, even though the senators quoted him directly

From Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s views on vaccines to Medicaid, here are some ways his nomination for head of the Department of Health and Human Services could have sweeping effects on health care