President Trump Creates “Make America Healthy Again” Commission

On February 13, 2025, immediately following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation and swearing in as secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) to establish the Make America Healthy Again Commission (Commission).

This EO explains that the Commission’s initial objective is to advise and assist the president on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis. In particular, the EO tasks the Commission with studying potential contributing causes to the childhood chronic disease crisis, such as “the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism.”

The Commission is chaired by the HHS secretary and includes various high-level officials, including the secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins. Within 100 days of the date of this EO (by May 24, 2025), the Commission must submit to the president a “Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment” (Assessment). Notably, the EO requires this Assessment to address (1) the threat that “certain food ingredients, certain chemicals, and certain other exposures pose to children with respect to chronic inflammation or other established mechanisms of disease” and (2) “best practices for preventing childhood health issues, including through proper nutrition and the promotion of healthy lifestyles,” among other issues. Additionally, within 180 days of the date of the EO (by August 12, 2025), the Commission must submit to the president a “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy” (Strategy) based on the findings in the Assessment. The Strategy is expected to address how to appropriately restructure the federal government’s response to the childhood chronic disease crisis.

The EO generally aligns with HHS Secretary Kennedy’s recent statements on addressing chronic illness through a focus on the nation’s food supply. In light of the Commission’s short timeline to complete its work and the likely transformational impact the Commission’s work will have on the U.S. food regulatory landscape, food industry stakeholders should assess how best to provide the Commission with key data to inform its recommendations. In this regard, the EO states that HHS Secretary Kennedy may hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, or similar events to obtain stakeholder input. The Commission’s work merits close attention and monitoring, and we will share new developments as they arise.