Trump team already backing away from promise to Kennedy?

Are we already on a slippery slope?

Recent enthusiastic statements by both Trump and Kennedy made it clear that Kennedy would be “in charge of health,” in the new Trump administration.

No doubt about it.

Trump was very definite. All things health belong to Bobby, just leave the oil and gas to Trump. That’s what the President-to-be said. That’s what Kennedy echoed.

But in the week leading up to the election, there’s this from The Hill (Thursday, 10/31/24) (link in footnote):

Howard Lutnick, co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team, said in a Wednesday [10/30/24] interview [on CNN] that former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is backing former President Trump, is seeking the federal data to prove vaccines should be kept off the market.

Lutnick added, however, that Kennedy will not get—nor does he want—the job of secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“He’s not getting a job for HHS,” Lutnick told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, pushing back against the claim that Trump had promised Kennedy the job.

“He wants the data, so he can say, ‘These things [vaccines] are unsafe.’ He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take on the data and show that it’s not safe. And then if you pull the product liability [shield, protecting vaccine makers from lawsuits], the companies will yank these vaccines right off, off of the market.’”

Sounds fine. Great. Kennedy wants access to vaccine data HHS has long kept from prying eyes. He wants vaccines off the market.

But where is Kennedy now, right now, as “the health czar?”

Is he backing away? Is Trump’s team pushing him away?

Will Kennedy have the final say on who Trump nominates to head up the federal health agencies?

HHS, CDC, NIH, EPA?

And what about Kennedy’s investigation/action on toxic chemicals in food? Is that still a go?

“All Kennedy wants is the data.” That’s all he wants relative to vaccines? Or to the whole health territory?