Democrats in Congress fought tooth and nail to pass the Affordable Care Act, and when they did, they gave the secretary of health and human services an enormous amount of discretionary power to implement the law moving forward.
While some of what they hoped the law would achieve has come to pass — millions of Americans were able to access health insurance who hadn’t before — they did not anticipate that someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could eventually lead the department.
President-elect Donald Trump has been vague about his plans for the law in his second term. Repeal efforts during his first time in office failed — a sore point for many congressional Republicans. But now Kennedy — who questions vaccine safety, opposes fluoride and has promoted unproven COVID-19 treatments — could hold the keys to the department that many Republicans continue to argue has too big of a federal role.