Kennedy Jr., an ardent vaccine critic who would have been Weldon’s boss as health secretary. Perhaps Weldon’s biggest problem was that he said the quiet part out loud. During his confirmation hearings,

The Infectious Disease Society of America says there have been “no deaths related to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in healthy individuals.” (Since the 1970s, the measles vaccine has been given in a combination shot with mumps and rubella to minimize the number of injections kids get.)

Abrupt staffing changes have also dominated Kennedy's first weeks in office, with CDC pick Dave Weldon, MD, withdrawing from the nomination mere minutes before his hearing, Kennedy's top HHS spokesman quitting 2 weeks into the job and the FDA's newly minted chief counsel departing 48 hours into the position.