Health Secretary Announces Changes to Management Team to Promote MAHA Agenda

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Feb. 12 that nearly a handful of members on his management team have received expanded responsibilities and titles.

Four officials will receive new titles on top of their current roles in the department, according to a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Kennedy hoped the title enhancements would help “accelerate adoption of President [Donald] Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan and the Make America Healthy Again agenda,” it said.

Chris Klomp will become the chief counselor at HHS, which will make him responsible for overseeing all of the operations of the department.

Klomp’s new title will coincide with duties as the director of Medicare and deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and senior adviser to Kennedy.

Kennedy named Kyle Diamantas and Grace Graham as senior counselors for the Food and Drug Administration.

Both currently work for the FDA and will stay in their positions as they add the new titles. Diamantas is the deputy commissioner for human foods, and Graham is the deputy commissioner for policy, legislation, and international affairs for the federal agency.

John Brooks was picked as senior counselor for CMS. Brooks is currently the deputy administrator and the chief policy and regulatory officer for CMS, which is a position he will keep.

“In just over a year, we have driven historic progress on President Trump’s health care priorities and delivered real, measurable change,” Kennedy said in the press release.

“We are restoring accountability, challenging entrenched interests, and putting the health of the American people first. I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and go further as we work to Make America Healthy Again.”

The management change comes one day before Kennedy’s overhaul of vaccine recommendations is set to face a federal judge in Boston.

Plaintiffs, which include the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health organizations, want the judge to block the Trump administration’s updated vaccine schedule for children after the CDC downgraded recommendations for six vaccines.

Kennedy will also face scrutiny in court over his 2025 replacement of all members on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Lawyers for the Trump administration attempted to dismiss the case in January, but the judge ruled that the lawsuit could proceed.