RFK Jr. Is Starting Where Michelle Obama Left, Now With Republican Support

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While Republicans were more hesitant about Michelle Obama's healthy school lunch initiatives, they are embracing Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s plans over a decade later.

Why It Matters

Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services head. Another hearing was held Thursday before the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. His confirmation requires a simple majority in the Senate, meaning he could be blocked if all Democrats and three Republicans vote against him.

Kennedy focused a lot of his proposals on Wednesday on diet-related diseases among low-income Americans, especially those who rely heavily on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. By reorienting SNAP toward healthier options, he believes these adjustments could substantially alleviate the burden of chronic diseases across the country.

What To Know

Kennedy said that children should be given processed food that is "making them sick."

"The federal funding of the SNAP program, for example, and of school lunch programs could be a driver for helping kids," Kennedy said.

He criticized the current state of these programs, which often prioritize processed foods and sugary drinks, highlighting a misalignment with nutritional needs.

"We shouldn't be giving 60 percent of the kids in school processed food that is making them sick," Kennedy said. "We shouldn't be spending 10 percent of the SNAP program on sugar drinks. We have a direct ability to change things there."

Kennedy's stance on the issue has been pretty constant. Last fall, he told Fox & Friends that he'll "get processed food out of school lunch immediately." He's also been the head of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

Many took to social media on Wednesday to call out Kennedy after he spoke about improving school lunches during his confirmation hearing.

"The same senators who sh** on any proposal that Michelle Obama brought up for our kids to eat healthier in schools are now spouting the Make America Healthy again bullshit," former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The hypocrisy is quite staggering."

rfk jr and michelle obama
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services testifies during his Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building... Kevin Dietsch/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images

The former first lady championed a Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act in 2010 during her husband's first term, which former President Barack Obama signed into law to improve the nutritional quality of school meals.

While the plight of childhood obesity started to decrease, food industry giants and Republicans in Congress still looked to roll back some of Obama's changes. The School Nutrition Association had asked Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to relax some of the regulations, suggesting that the rules were "forcing students to take a food they don't want" which then leads to "increased program costs, plate waste, and a decline in student participation."

The USDA offered a two-year extension for schools to participate in the program if they could "demonstrate significant challenges in serving whole-grain rich pastas" so that they could serve "traditional enriched pasta products" instead.

Many GOP lawmakers were suggesting the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act was trying to be a "one-size-fits-all" solution. Alabama Republican Robert Aderholt had introduced a provision in 2014 to give some districts a temporary waiver from the lunch rules.

"I continually hear from my schools in Alabama about the challenges and costs they are facing and their desperation for flexibility and relief so that they can operate a [school meal] program serving healthy foods the kids will eat," he said at a hearing at the time.

Newsweek reached out to Aderholt's office for comment about Kennedy's new proposals and never heard back after confirmation of receipt over the phone.

A poll from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2015 found that about 86 percent of Americans support the current school nutrition standards.

Today, a majority of Republicans are trusting Kennedy, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released on January 28 of 1,310 adults. Kennedy's support from Republicans, at 81 percent, was almost equal to their support of their own personal doctors, at 84 percent.

Overall, the average for Democrats, independents and Republicans, shows only a 43 percent trust in Kennedy and his proposals. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed only three in 10 adults approve of Kennedy's nomination.

What People Are Saying

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at the Senate hearing Wednesday: "Should I be so privileged as to be confirmed, we will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods. We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply. We will remove financial conflicts of interest from our agencies. We will create an honest, unbiased, gold-standard science at HHS, accountable to the president, to Congress, and to the American people. We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to good health."

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren on X: "Seems like we all agree RFK Jr. cannot be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services."

Former Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz on X: "RFK doesn't think we should poison children in school with processed food.

"MAHA!"

Political advisor Katie Miller on X: "After two days and over six hours of testimony in two Senate Committees, we are fully confident @RobertKennedyJr will be confirmed by the U.S. Senate."

What's Next

Kennedy will face a vote to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

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