
RFK Jr. fires top aides in HHS shakeup
Follow
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired two of his top aides in an abrupt shakeup of the leadership at the nation's sprawling health department, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Kennedy this week ousted chief of staff Heather Flick Melanson and deputy chief of staff for policy Hannah Anderson, dismissing them after only a handful of months on the job.
The decision came after Kennedy lost confidence in them as part of his leadership team, one of the people familiar with the matter said, although it was unclear whether there was a single triggering event that prompted the firings.
In a statement, an HHS spokesman confirmed the moves and said the department's White House liaison, Matt Buckham, would serve as acting chief of staff.
'He brings valuable experience in personnel strategy and organizational management to this new role,' the spokesman said. 'Secretary Kennedy thanks the outgoing leadership for their service and looks forward to working closely with Mr. Buckham as the Department continues advancing its mission to Make America Healthy Again.'
Kennedy has not yet decided on permanent replacements for Flick and Anderson, the people familiar said.
The move leaves Kennedy needing to fill key senior positions at HHS just months into his tenure, and at a moment when the department has come under growing scrutiny over its efforts to overhaul the nation's vaccine policies and advance a range of major health and food priorities.
Flick was among Kennedy's most experienced Washington hands, having served at HHS during President Donald Trump's first term, first as its acting general counsel and then as acting secretary for administration and a senior adviser to then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
Anderson joined HHS after stints on Capitol Hill as a GOP staffer, including as health policy adviser to Republicans on the Senate's main health committee. She had most recently headed up health care issues at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute think tank.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Controversial FDA official Dr. Vinay Prasad departs agency
Dr. Vinay Prasad, the controversial critic of the US Food and Drug Administration who took a top role at the regulatory agency in May, has resigned less than three months into the job. 'Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,' a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services told CNN on Tuesday. Prasad, a hematologist oncologist, was named head of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in early May, giving him purview over vaccines and biologic medicines. He was subsequently also given the role of FDA chief medical and scientific officer. Like a number of Trump administration health appointees, Prasad had been a harsh critic of the government's response and vaccine policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prasad's departure came amid fresh pressure from the White House for him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to describe the internal dynamics, and followed days of criticism from Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist with extraordinary access to President Donald Trump. Loomer had taken shots at him on her website and on social media, attacking him publicly for days as a 'progressive leftist saboteur' who was 'undermining President Trump's FDA.' Loomer focused on Prasad's previous social media posts and podcast episodes, where she said he aligned himself politically with liberal politicians and expressed 'disdain' for Trump. Her posts were followed by others from figures including former US Sen. Rick Santorum, who called Prasad 'the man destroying @POTUS legacy for helping patients,' and a Wall Street Journal opinion piece headlined, 'Vinay Prasad Is a Bernie Sanders Acolyte in MAHA Drag.' Prasad didn't respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesperson referred a request for comment to HHS. Prasad had been defended by FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary just days ago; in an interview with Politico, Makary said Prasad is an 'impeccable scientist … one of the greatest scientific minds of our generation.' 'We thank him for his service and the many important reforms he was able to achieve in his time at FDA,' the spokesperson for HHS said. Prasad assumed his role at the FDA after years of being a vocal critic of some of the agency's drug approvals. In particular, he had railed against a decision to approve Sarepta's drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Elevidys, arguing that there was little evidence it helped stall or reverse symptoms of the rare, fatal genetic disorder. This month, the FDA requested that Sarepta halt shipments of the drug after a reported death in a young patient in Brazil. Just one day before Prasad's departure, the agency made a surprising reversal and allowed Sarepta to resume shipments for certain patients. Prasad also drew criticism from former officials and vaccine experts after internal memos from May revealed that he overrode FDA scientists on recommendations for two new versions of Covid-19 vaccines. The then-CDER director rebuked recommendations for broad use of the shots; the FDA eventually approved the vaccines for use in older and immunocompromised people but did not advise them for younger Americans who don't have underlying conditions.


CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Controversial FDA official Dr. Vinay Prasad departs agency
Dr. Vinay Prasad, the controversial critic of the US Food and Drug Administration who took a top role at the regulatory agency in May, has resigned less than three months into the job. 'Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,' a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services told CNN on Tuesday. Prasad, a hematologist oncologist, was named head of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in early May, giving him purview over vaccines and biologic medicines. He was subsequently also given the role of FDA chief medical and scientific officer. Like a number of Trump administration health appointees, Prasad had been a harsh critic of the government's response and vaccine policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prasad's departure came amid fresh pressure from the White House for him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to describe the internal dynamics, and followed days of criticism from Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist with extraordinary access to President Donald Trump. Loomer had taken shots at him on her website and on social media, attacking him publicly for days as a 'progressive leftist saboteur' who was 'undermining President Trump's FDA.' Loomer focused on Prasad's previous social media posts and podcast episodes, where she said he aligned himself politically with liberal politicians and expressed 'disdain' for Trump. Her posts were followed by others from figures including former US Sen. Rick Santorum, who called Prasad 'the man destroying @POTUS legacy for helping patients,' and a Wall Street Journal opinion piece headlined, 'Vinay Prasad Is a Bernie Sanders Acolyte in MAHA Drag.' Prasad didn't respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesperson referred a request for comment to HHS. Prasad had been defended by FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary just days ago; in an interview with Politico, Makary said Prasad is an 'impeccable scientist … one of the greatest scientific minds of our generation.' 'We thank him for his service and the many important reforms he was able to achieve in his time at FDA,' the spokesperson for HHS said. Prasad assumed his role at the FDA after years of being a vocal critic of some of the agency's drug approvals. In particular, he had railed against a decision to approve Sarepta's drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Elevidys, arguing that there was little evidence it helped stall or reverse symptoms of the rare, fatal genetic disorder. This month, the FDA requested that Sarepta halt shipments of the drug after a reported death in a young patient in Brazil. Just one day before Prasad's departure, the agency made a surprising reversal and allowed Sarepta to resume shipments for certain patients. Prasad also drew criticism from former officials and vaccine experts after internal memos from May revealed that he overrode FDA scientists on recommendations for two new versions of Covid-19 vaccines. The then-CDER director rebuked recommendations for broad use of the shots; the FDA eventually approved the vaccines for use in older and immunocompromised people but did not advise them for younger Americans who don't have underlying conditions.

2 hours ago
Trump suggests US will help with Gaza aid as Europeans join effort
After the White House said Monday that President Donald Trump will present a "new aid plan" for Gaza, officials on Tuesday could share no details on how the U.S. might join European and Arab allies in moving aid into the enclave during "tactical pauses" in the fighting there. "That's a lot of money for food, a lot of money that can take care of people for a long time," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday as he returned from Scotland. "And we want to make sure it's going to be -- it's being spent properly. And part of the spending is the distribution." The dire humanitarian situation has seen deaths from malnutrition rise and led to international outcry over limited aid. "This is not about what has not worked," said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who said the hunger is the fault of Hamas' "recalcitrance and refusal to lay down its arms, [and its] refusal to release the hostages." "There's always had to be more. The calls from the president, from Secretary [Marco Rubio], and even [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] has been [to] have more join us," she said. Bruce said "more good news" on aid would come when the president returns from his trip to the United Kingdom, where he met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but didn't want to get ahead of the president regarding announcements. Aid distribution in Gaza is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S. contractor backed by a $30 million U.S. donation. The U.N., Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international nonprofits have said GHF is ill-equipped to handle Gaza's massive needs. Israel and the Trump administration have accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the U.N. and others to fund its militant activity, claims which Hamas denies. Trump suggested Monday that he would advocate for "food centers" and has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. gave $60 million in aid to Gaza. Bruce said she was only aware of $30 million announced by the State Department, but cautioned that might not represent the "full picture." GHF did not respond to ABC News inquiries over the $30 million discrepancy or so-called "food centers" after Trump lamented queues for emergency aid in Gaza -- which are run by GHF -- have left some Gazans dead at the sites. The United Nations has said more than 1,000 people have died in recent weeks at food aid sites, most of which are run by GHF. Bruce would not respond to a question Tuesday on the U.N. assessment and Israel has said casualty counts at aid sites were inaccurate. Trump's teasing of a new plan comes as European countries including the United Kingdom and France have joined an airdrop effort by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S., which coordinated with Amman on airdrops from Jordanian aircraft in 2024, is absent from the effort. Trump on Monday said the U.S. was "going to do more" in Gaza, acknowledging starvation that has gripped the enclave. But the U.S. has not made new aid commitments during pauses introduced by Israel. The U.S. did convey support to the U.K. for London's participation in the airdrop effort, a source familiar with the operations told ABC News. Six countries have joined the airdrop campaign to this point, the source said. The break with Europe took another blow Tuesday when the U.K. announced it would recognize Palestinian statehood in September "unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and commits to a long term sustainable peace," following France's announcement last week of the recognition of statehood before the U.N. general assembly in September Trump told reporters he didn't discuss the issue of statehood with Starmer. And British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at the U.N. that the U.K. made the decision unilaterally. "We have always been clear that no country has a veto on solemn decisions that we make in the United Kingdom," he said. France, another key U.S. ally, is taking part in a U.N. conference over a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, which Bruce called "ill-timed and unproductive" and a "stunt." Meanwhile, aid reaching Gaza continues at a trickle -- even during 10-hour windows that Israeli authorities say will allow more aid to reach Palestinians. On Tuesday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza, warning that starvation-related deaths are rising at dangerous levels. Aid organizations told ABC News that early movements of aid aren't sufficient since the pauses were announced. "There is nowhere in the world where you see food being airdropped and bombs being dropped at the same time ... so I don't know how much we can say that there's a tactical pause," said Jasmin Kozowy, the founder of Instant Aid, which hopes to transport food into Gaza as a part of its mission supporting women and girls. The World Food Programme, which intended to move 80 to 100 trucks into Gaza when the pauses began, has moved only half of that, according to Abeer Etefa, WFP's senior spokesperson for the Middle East. "Because of the desperation of people, we are not yet able to do proper distributions -- communities are looting the trucks on the way to their final destinations," Etefa said. "And we continue to see casualty incidents as live fire is directed at crowds." Yet Kozowy said the first days of the new pause policy has represented a "slight opening," citing the resumption of humanitarian aid by the Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit that is able to deliver 20 million meals to Gaza. "But is it enough? No," she said.