Kennedy slams FDA as “sock puppet” in private speech, calls for whistleblowers to speak out

In a private but now widely reported speech to Food and Drug Administration staff on Friday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a blistering critique of the agency he now oversees, calling it a “sock puppet” for the industries it is supposed to regulate.

The remarks, obtained by NBC News, were made during a closed-door welcome event alongside the newly appointed FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary. While intended to set the tone for future reforms, the speech instead spotlighted Kennedy’s long-held distrust of federal health institutions and immediately sent shockwaves through the agency.

Kennedy, who has spent years questioning the independence of health regulators, doubled down on those views in front of FDA staffers. He invoked “institutional pressures” as a form of the so-called “deep state,” claiming it wasn’t driven by global conspiracies but rather a system of regulatory capture where agencies are steered by the interests of the industries they’re supposed to police.

“President Trump always talks about the deep state... It’s more insidious than that,” Kennedy said. “It’s institutional.”

While many of Kennedy’s comments drew concern, one FDA staffer said the atmosphere was “tense,” noting that at least one attendee walked out when he brought up the “deep state.”

Kennedy’s critique wasn’t new. He’s previously accused federal agencies particularly those involved in vaccine regulation of being compromised. In a 2015 interview with Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group he founded, he suggested that institutions like the CDC had become “subsidiaries” of pharmaceutical companies.

More recently, ahead of the 2024 election, Kennedy tweeted a stark message to FDA staff: “Preserve your records, and pack your bags.”

Kennedy’s speech notably avoided addressing the recent layoffs of approximately 3,500 FDA employees, including several top vaccine regulators — a move that has already sparked unease within the agency.

Instead, he focused on a call to action, urging employees to expose wrongdoing.

“If your boss is making a mistake... we want to hear it,” Kennedy said. “We want to honor whistleblowers in this administration.”

While some saw this as empowering, others viewed it as undermining existing leadership and sowing distrust within teams already shaken by staffing cuts and policy uncertainty.

In an official statement, Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon defended Kennedy’s remarks, calling them necessary.

“For too long, the FDA has been captured by the very industries it is supposed to regulate,” Nixon said. “Calling this out and encouraging radical transparency is not controversial it’s leadership.”

Kennedy’s speech signals a confrontational leadership style likely to define his tenure one rooted in skepticism of long-standing institutional practices and a willingness to publicly challenge internal norms.

But for an agency tasked with safeguarding public health, especially in the wake of a pandemic and ongoing drug safety debates, that style may prove divisive.

One FDA staffer summed it up: “He believes we’re all sellouts. But in truth, many industries don’t like the level of scrutiny we already provide.”

Whether Kennedy’s vision translates into meaningful reform or ongoing internal strife remains to be seen but his message was loud, clear, and far from conventional.