The Senators Who Will Vote On RFK Jr. Have Raked In Millions From The Pharmaceutical Industry; RFK Jr Vow to Purge FDA Sets Up Collision with Big Pharma

The Senators Who Will Vote On RFK Jr. Have Raked In Millions From The Pharmaceutical Industry:

Lawmakers on the Finance Committee will vote first on Kennedy’s nomination after raking in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry.

Stocks for the food and pharmaceutical industries plummeted Friday immediately upon President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

If confirmed as head of HHS, Kennedy will oversee a nearly $2 trillion department responsible for the administration of federal health insurance programs in addition to regulatory agencies governing food and medicine. HHS holds jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making HHS a primary recruitment ground for the pharmaceutical companies’ revolving doors of influence. Kennedy, who ran for president and then campaigned for Trump as a chief antagonist of Big Pharma, has the industry bracing for generational changes threatening Wall Street’s bottom line.

Lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee, however, will vote first on Kennedy’s nomination after raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry now concerned about Kennedy’s plans to gut predatory advertising practices and eliminate taxpayer subsidies.

While most Republican senators have remained largely silent on how they might vote on Kennedy’s confirmation, pharmaceutical lobbyists are almost certainly calling lawmakers after drug money lined campaign coffers of both parties.

According to a Federalist analysis of industry donations to members of the Senate Finance Committee compiled by OpenSecrets, pharmaceutical companies contributed more than $6.7 million between 2019 and 2024 to lawmakers who will determine whether Kennedy gets a full vote by the upper chamber. Republican senators took more than twice as much industry money, though five members were excluded from The Federalist’s analysis because two lost their recent races, two are retiring, and one, Sen. George Helmy of New Jersey, was appointed just a little over two months ago. —>READ MORE HERE

RFK Jr vow to purge FDA sets up collision with Big Pharma:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to purge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shortly before being chosen as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary. Any changes he wants to make will come up against a pharmaceutical industry that pays much of the regulator’s bills.

Kennedy, an environmental activist who has helped sow doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, would have authority over the nation’s agencies responsible for public health, government-funded health insurance plans for more than 140 million including the poor, those 65 and older, and the disabled, medical research and more if confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy has been most vocal about the FDA, an agency that oversees nearly $3 trillion in medicines, food and tobacco products. In interviews and on social media, Kennedy has accused agency staff of doing the bidding of Big Pharma and Big Food.

“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy wrote on X in late October. “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.” 

FDA officials were not immediately available to comment on the Kennedy nomination. 

Shares of vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), and Moderna (MRNA.O), fell after news of Kennedy’s appointment and were down in after-hours trading by as much as 2%.

Calling the drug industry “a crown jewel of the American economy,” the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the leading industry lobby group, said in a statement it wanted to work with the Trump administration to improve health for patients.

The group stressed achievements such as the elimination of polio and smallpox, both of which were accomplished through vaccination. It did not mention Kennedy by name in the statement, released after the announcement.

Del Bigtree, who was director of communications for Kennedy’s election campaign and remains close to the former candidate, said he expected a careful look at any FDA employee ties to industry.

“You’re going to see a vetting process of, how do the people have the jobs here? What were their conflicts of interest … you’re going to watch a transparency that should have happened,” he said. “And it’s all going to be made public.” —>READ MORE HERE

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