Regardless of what you think about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he is now the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), tasked with overseeing the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A polarizing figure largely due to his statements and positions on vaccines, Kennedy has appealed to people who have grown distrustful of their government and institutions. His mission to “Make America Healthy Again” by reducing chronic, lifestyle-related diseases with an emphasis on nutrition and science is certainly commendable. It’s also a tall order.

During a nomination hearing in January, Kennedy noted the overall health of Americans is in “grievous condition,” acknowledging rising rates of obesity and diabetes, auto-immune diseases, neurodevelopment disorders, Alzheimer’s, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction, “and a host of other physical and mental health conditions.”

Kennedy said he would reverse the chronic disease epidemic, and “put the nation back on the road to good health” in part by ensuring tax dollars support healthy foods, scrutinizing chemical additives in the food supply, removing financial conflicts of interest from agencies, and creating an honest and unbiased gold standard of science.

He also said he intends to engage with farmers and food producers “to remove burdensome regulations and unleash American ingenuity. MAHA simply can’t succeed without a full partnership of American farmers.”

Almost immediately after Kennedy’s confirmation on Feb. 13, though, thousands of workers employed across HHS received notice about their termination as part of the Trump administration’s reduction of the federal workforce, including at least 89 members of FDA’s Human Foods Program (HFP).

Reportedly, terminated staff from HFP included those working on nutrition, infant formula, and food safety response, as well as 10 staff members “who were charged with reviewing potentially unsafe chemicals in the nation’s food supply.”

Jim Jones, the deputy commissioner for FDA’s Human Foods Program, resigned following the staff cuts, writing to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner: “I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food. It has been increasingly clear that with the Trump Administration’s disdain for the very people necessary to implement your agenda, however, it would have been fruitless for me to continue in this role.”

Having spent more than 30 years at the Environmental Protection Agency, Jones is an expert and thought leader in chemical safety who oversaw the agency’s recent ban on Red Dye no. 3 in foods.

It’s no surprise the Trump administration is shaking up the federal bureaucracy. The government certainly needs to run more efficiently to work for the public interest and improve public health. People deserve transparency though, so they can hold leaders accountable and ask pertinent questions. Institutional knowledge should also be valued, especially when it’s expertise related to policy priorities.  

Kyle Diamantas, a Florida lawyer with reported ties to Donald Trump Jr., has been named acting deputy commissioner for human foods. According to his profile on FDA’s website, Diamantas “has extensive experience working with various federal and state agencies and policy makers, scientific organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and industry stakeholders. He has wide-ranging experience on matters spanning regulatory, compliance, investigative, enforcement, rulemaking, and legislation.”