Joseph A. Ladapo is on a list of HHS secretary candidates being assembled by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been charged with helping select staff for the nation’s health and food agencies if Donald Trump wins office, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the planning process. HHS is responsible for overseeing Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; approving vaccines, medications and health-care devices; coordinating responses to disease outbreaks; and numerous other priorities across its nearly $2 trillion budget.
Ladapo, who has served as Florida’s surgeon general since 2021, has repeatedly defied public health practices — such as failing to urge parents to vaccinate their children or keep unvaccinated students home from school during a recent measles outbreak — drawing scorn from public health experts who say his decisions have imperiled Florida residents.