POLITICO Nightly: The limits of RFK Jr.’s power
By Joanne Kenen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a Senate HELP Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services in Washington, on Jan. 30, 2025. | Jason Andrew for POLITICO BY WHAT AUTHORITY — If there’s one thing that even HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fierce critics generally agree with him on, it’s that Americans have a lousy diet. We are a pretty fat nation. We eat too much and lots of it is stuff that isn’t good for us. Some ultra processed foods in our kitchens have too many unpronounceable chemicals on the labels. We have a high burden of diet-fueled chronic disease, including diabetes. But there’s a catch. Several catches, actually. RFK Jr. — or any secretary of Health and Human Services for that matter, Democrat or Republican — can’t fix it by himself. HHS doesn’t have oversight over all food and nutrition products and policies. Nor does the Food and Drug Administration, which is under HHS. Much of that is up...