Where Does RFK, Jr. Really Stand on Health in Indian Country?

DetailsBy Neely BardwellApril 08, 2025After Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK, Jr) met with Tribal leaders last month, he committed to improving the Indian Health Service (IHS). Now, he announced the department is cutting 10,000 employees and HHS attempted to reassign some of the health official to IHS. RFK, who said the Indian Health Service has “always been treated as the redheaded stepchild” by his agency, has laid off employees in programs aimed at supporting Native people, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Tribes initiative, and closed five regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services that cover an estimated 80 percent of the nation’s Native population.Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news.Sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.Abigail Echo-Hawk, an epidemiologist and citizen of the Pawnee Nation who is a leader of the Seattle Indian Hea...