Two top aides to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are leaving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and General Counsel Mike Stewart are expected to leave the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services soon as part of a broader reorganization of the agency ahead of the midterm elections. Trump administration officials have discussed offering them other positions in the administration, two people familiar with the matter said.
O’Neill is the No. 2 person in charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and is the interim head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has been a controversial figure at the agency, helping amplify anti-vaccine messaging and concerns about Medicaid fraud and cheering for the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization.
Within the administration, O’Neill is viewed as an unstable public communicator who has struggled to find his place within the department, a person familiar with the matter said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had no immediate comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Politico first reported the planned departures.
Although O’Neill has no formal medical or public health background, he was named acting director of the CDC after Dr. Susan Monarez was ousted in late August. Prior to joining HHS, O’Neill served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation and an investment manager at Clarium Capital. He served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President George W. Bush.
O’Neill rarely visited the CDC, according to former agency leaders. They declined to be named as they were not authorized to comment on the situation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately comment on the extent of his involvement with the agency.
O’Neill’s planned departure comes as Trump officials look to better focus the department’s policy priorities and improve its public messaging, prompting a broader reshuffle at the top of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The White House plans to make health care a central element of its mid-term strategy in the coming months, touting its efforts to lower drug prices and encourage healthy eating while renewing its efforts to pass sweeping legislation aimed at cutting health care costs.
To advance that mission, the White House and health officials have decided in recent weeks to promote four staff members who have received favorable reviews from top Trump aides, including naming Medicare chief Chris Klopp as the new chief adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services. Klopp, a central figure in the administration’s drug price initiative, is expected to oversee day-to-day operations at the Department of Health and Human Services and serve as the department’s de facto chief of staff.
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