RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment on HHS decisions

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a document Friday proposing to strip public participation from much of the business his department conducts. The move comes during a time of major upheaval across federal health agencies, and as the public waits to see how Kennedy will enact his pledge of “radical transparency” at the department.

The statement, placed in the Federal Register, said HHS would rescind its longtime practice of giving members of the public a chance to comment on the agency’s plans.

Normally, before issuing a new rule or regulation, the public is given an opportunity to submit written comments in support or in opposition to government proposals. This has been the case for years under the Administrative Procedure Act.

However, Kennedy and HHS are arguing they don’t need to seek public input when the agency is making decisions about “agency management or personnel,” or related to public property, loans and grants, benefits, or contracts. HHS can also choose to cut out public participation when it deems the process “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest,” per the law.

HHS says it is rescinding the little-known waiver because the public participation process imposes too many responsibilities on the department, “beyond the maximum” requirements of the law. Those obligations “are contrary to the efficient operation of the department, and impede the department’s flexibility to adapt quickly to legal and policy mandates,” Kennedy wrote in the document.