Pence criticizes Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. for HHS secretary

In a rare rebuke of his former boss, former Vice President Mike Pence called President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary “deeply concerning.”
Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the department, which oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies responsible for family health, Medicare and Medicaid.
While Kennedy has made numerous controversial statements about topics like vaccines and fluoride in water, Pence is most concerned about Kennedy’s stance on abortion.
“The Trump-Pence administration was unapologetically pro-life for our four years in office,” Pence said in a statement on Friday.
He added, “For the majority of his career, RFK Jr. has defended abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy, supports overturning the Dobbs decision and has called for legislation to codify Roe v Wade.”
In May 2024, Kennedy acknowledged that he had been wary of “inserting the government into abortion” but now supports restrictions in the final months of pregnancy.
That position does not align with Pence’s values, and he is urging the Senate, which will be led by Republicans next year, to reject Kennedy’s nomination.