As a consumer and taxpayer watchdog, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is very concerned about what has been happening at the Department of Health and Human Services under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Specific concerns are tied to Mr. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine bias, his opposition to fluoride in drinking water, and his opposition to genetically modified foods. Individuals within the legal reform community have also expressed their own concerns with confirming RFK Jr., a plaintiff’s attorney, tied to his long history of working advancing costly mass tort lawsuits. Since taking office, RFK Jr. has doubled down on discredited conspiracies about vaccines. He falsely claimed the measles vaccine hasn’t been safety tested – a falsehood contradicted by years of rigorous science. His rhetoric is sowing dangerous doubt about proven health treatments. We launched this web page ([link removed]) detailing our concerns.

We wanted to know what Americans thought so we had a poll commissioned. The polling company fielded a national survey of 2,030 adult respondents between September 5th and September 9th, 2025. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, and U.S. Census region based on voter registration lists, the U.S. Census American Community Survey, and the U.S. Census Current Population Survey, as well as 2020 Presidential vote and approximate 2024 Presidential vote based on available results. The margin of error (MOE) for the sample is +/-2.6 percent and larger for subgroups.

Key Results
Americans feel negatively about Secretary Kennedy and do not trust him to make the best decisions for America’s public health.
* Only 37 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of Secretary Kennedy, a lower favorability than President Donald Trump (43 percent). This support is widely divided by party, with 66 percent of Republicans holding favorable opinions compared to only 12 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Independents.
* Less than one-third (29 percent) of Americans trust Secretary Kennedy to make the best decisions for America’s public health when initially asked, including only eight percent of Democrats and 21 percent of Independents. About half (54 percent) of Republicans indicated they trust him.

After learning about Secretary Kennedy’s legal involvement in cases related to pharmaceutical companies and vaccines, trust declines even more.
* About three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) were unaware of Secretary Kennedy’s involvement in litigation against vaccine manufacturers. A larger majority (78 percent) were unaware that he currently has a contract from which he stands to profit from litigation against pharmaceutical companies.
* Two-thirds (65 percent) said it is not appropriate for public officials to have contracts with law firms to receive money from litigation while in office, and after hearing about Secretary Kennedy’s past and current involvement in litigation against pharmaceutical companies a majority (59 percent) think it is unethical for him to oversee public health.
* In a follow up after receiving information about Secretary Kennedy’s past and current involvement in litigation against pharmaceutical companies, an even smaller minority of Americans (25 percent) trust him to make the best decisions for America’s public health. Fully 58 percent of Americans overall said in this follow-up question that they do not trust him, 8 percentage points higher than the initial measure of 50 percent.

Majorities of Americans trust their primary care provider, receive vaccines, and believe that vaccines are safe, but there are large partisan differences.
* Most Americans have a primary care provider (79 percent), and among those that do, the vast majority report having visited a provider in the last year (85 percent). There is no statistical difference between the number of Republicans and Democrats who report having a primary care provider or visiting that provider in the last year.
* Nearly three-quarters of Americans report having received a vaccine in the last 5 years (74 percent) including most Democrats (89 percent) and over half of Republicans (61 percent) and Independents (56 percent).
* About two-thirds of Americans believe that FDA-approved vaccines are safe (64 percent). There is wide partisan variation in beliefs about vaccine safety, as 86 percent of Democrats believe these vaccines are safe compared to only 42 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Independents.
* When it comes to information on vaccines, across all partisan groups the most trusted source is an individual’s own doctor or primary care provider. Overall, 62 percent of all Americans say they trust them to provide accurate information about the safety of vaccines. However, there are large differences in the level of trust with around half of Republicans (51 percent) and Independents (47 percent) saying they trust vaccine information from their doctor/PCP compared to 76 percent of Democrats.
* Trust in vaccine information from public health agencies is highly driven by partisanship. Between two-thirds and about half of Democrats trust vaccine information from the CDC (68 percent), the WHO (64 percent), and the FDA (54 percent). On the other hand, Republicans trust these agencies at much lower levels (CDC: 27 percent; WHO: 15 percent; FDA: 21 percent).

The majority of Americans believe federal guidance and safety standards should come from career public officials, and that public health officials should have medical training and credentials.
* About half of Americans (53 percent) think federal safety standards for medications and vaccines should be written by career public officials while only about one in ten (11 percent) think these standards should be written by political appointees.
* Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of Americans say they would be less likely to trust healthcare guidance from a public official if they knew the official had no medical training. This varies by partisanship, with 86 percent of Democrats saying they’d be less likely to trust such an official and 61 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Independents indicating the same. Moreover, 15 percent of Republicans say that it wouldn’t matter to them, while only two percent of Democrats and 6 percent of Independents said the same.


Blogs:

Tuesday: Three Ideas to End the Shutdown ([link removed])

Wednesday: TPA Releases a New Survey Exposing Americans’ Wide Distrust & Disapproval of RFK Jr.’s Leadership ([link removed])

Thursday: How New York’s Airbnb Crackdown Is Killing Broadway’s Comeback ([link removed])

Friday: VPN Ban Would Sabotage Cybersecurity in Michigan ([link removed])

Media:

October 9, 2025: USSA News mentioned TPA in their story, “Congress Should Protect Duty Drawback to Strengthen US Manufacturing and Boost Exports.”
October 9, 2025: WCBM (Baltimore, Md.) mentioned TPA in their story about the recent audit of the Baltimore City Youth Fund.
October 10, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on the Inspector General’s investigation of the Baltimore City Youth Fund.
October 10, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted in their story on a new sugary drink tax in Maryland.
October 10, 2025: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “How New York’s Airbnb Crackdown Is Killing Broadway’s Comeback.”
October 11, 2025: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their story, “Baltimore youth fund spent about $100K on trip to Alabama for adults Fund.”
October 12, 2025: WJLA (Washington, D.C.) quoted TPA in their story on a new sugary drink tax in Maryland.
October 13, 2025: The Blaze ran TPA’s op-ed, “Europe shows us what happens when bureaucrats win.”
October 13, 2025: The Washington Examiner ran TPA’s op-ed, “The case against the CFPB’s open banking rule.”
October 14, 2025: The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, Wv.) and 1 other outlet ran TPA’s op-ed, “WV broadband breakthrough needs recognition.”
October 14, 2025: The Center Square and 5 other outlets ran TPA’s op-ed, “Washington can’t fix drug prices by becoming a pharmacy.”
October 14, 2025: Inside Sources (Washington, D.C.) ran TPA’s exclusive, “Exclusive Poll: Americans Lack Trust in RFK Jr. as Health.”
October 16, 2025: I appeared on WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) to talk about the increasing demand for data centers in the state.”
October 16, 2025: I appeared on WBOB 600AM radio (Jacksonville, Fl.) to talk about the government shutdown and Obamacare.

Have a great weekend!

David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
1101 14^th Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington, D.C.
Office: (202) 930-1716
Mobile: (202) 258-6527
www.protectingtaxpayers.org

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