Overview

• Kennedy dismissed chief of staff Heather Flick Melanson and policy deputy Hannah Anderson, both in their roles for only months, without offering specific reasons beyond a loss of confidence.
• Matt Buckham, the department’s White House liaison, will step in as acting chief of staff and oversee the recruitment and onboarding of political appointees.
• Melanson and Anderson were widely regarded as Trump loyalists installed to monitor Kennedy’s vaccine and public health reform initiatives.
• The departures leave key vacancies in the immediate office of the secretary just months into Kennedy’s tenure and highlight ongoing management instability.
• The leadership shake-up follows lawsuits over April’s mass layoffs and growing bipartisan concern about Kennedy’s cuts, agency restructurings and nontraditional vaccine policy proposals.