Follow the money:
• Kennedy’s family has a long legacy in Democratic politics, and he previously donated to Democratic candidates, such as Gretchen Whitmer during her 2020 campaign for governor of Michigan. His largest contribution — $3,000 — went to John Sampson, a New York state senator who was later convicted for obstruction of justice. Kennedy’s family called his support for Trump a “betrayal.”
• Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign raised $62.5 million, and outside groups supporting his candidacy raised an additional $40.1 million. (This total represents the net amount given and takes into account that Team America refunded $13.65 million to Gavin de Becker.)
• The primary super PAC supporting Kennedy, Team America, was supported by $14 million in contributions from de Becker, a celebrity bodyguard and vaccine skeptic, although all but $350,000 of that was refunded to him. De Becker referred to the unusual arrangement as “bridge funding” for the super PAC. In another unusual situation, billionaire Trump supporter and mega donor, Timothy Mellon donated $25 million to Team America. Mellon ended up as one of Trump’s top supporters in 2024, contributing $150 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again.
• Planeta Management LLC, the company led by Kennedy’s running-mate Nicole Shanahan, donated $4.5 million to Kennedy-supporting super PACs. Shanahan herself made nearly $17 million in candidate contributions to the Kennedy campaign account. Shanahan is a lawyer and the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
• Leila Centner contributed $1 million to Team America. She is the co-founder of the Centner Academy, a private K-12 school in Miami that promotes its anti-vaccine policies and has hosted Kennedy.
• Kennedy joined Children’s Health Defense, then called World Mercury Project, in 2015. Children’s Health Defense is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “ending childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure.” It has filed dozens of lawsuits challenging vaccines and public health mandates. Its revenue grew from $165,937 in 2016 to $6.8 million in 2020 to almost $16 million in 2021 – coinciding with COVID – to more than $23.5 million in 2022. Kennedy’s compensation at Children’s Health Defense in 2022 surpassed half a million dollars. A 2019 study found that Children’s Health Defense and an individual from a group called Stop Mandatory Vaccination were responsible for 54% of the anti-vaccine advertisements on Facebook.
• Kennedy travelled to Samoa in June 2019, a trip paid for by Children’s Health Defense. The Samoan government had suspended measles vaccinations in 2018 after two infant deaths. Kennedy wrote on his blog that government officials and the prime minister “were curious to measure health outcomes following the ‘natural experiment’ created by the national respite from vaccines.” When a measles outbreak caused the deaths of 83 people after the suspension, most of whom were children, Kennedy sent the prime minister advice on how to “safeguard public health.” Kennedy later said he “never told anyone not to vaccinate.” He resigned as chairman of Children’s Health Defense in December 2024.
• Kennedy’s public financial disclosure report revealed that his net worth is between $8.6 million and $33.4 million. He expects between $2 million and $4 million for two books, “Unsettled Science” and “A Defense for Israel.” He received a nearly $9 million payout from his law firm, Kennedy & Madonna LLP (now Madonna & Madonna LLP), after resigning. He still receives $28,651 in benefits from the Natural Resources Defense Council and reported owning between $1 million and $5 million in Bitcoin.
• Kennedy pledged to divest his interest in Apple, Amazon and biotech companies Dragonfly Therapeutics Inc. and CRISPR Therapeutics AG, if confirmed. He will continue to collect fees related to referrals he made in the past for Wisner Baum, a law firm that is suing drugmaker Merck over an HPV vaccine. Kennedy received $856,559 in referral fees in 2024 from Wisner Baum.
• Politico reported that a Democratic advocacy group called Protect Our Care spent more than $1 million on a campaign opposing Kennedy’s nomination. Pence’s Advancing American Freedom group also launched a six-figure ad attacking Kennedy for his stances on abortion and comments on vaccines.
Why does it matter?
• As secretary of health and human services, Kennedy would oversee the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Indian Health Service, among others. The department’s $2 trillion budget accounts for 21% of the fiscal 2025 federal budget.
