A former aide to health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was so distraught over her abrupt firing that she accidentally crashed her car into his vehicle.
Hannah Anderson, who served briefly as deputy chief of staff for policy, was removed from her role in June after just a few months on the job.
She was dismissed alongside then-Chief of Staff Heather Flick Melanson as part of a major leadership shakeup at the Department of Health and Human Services. The department has been plagued by high-profile departures and chaotic turnover under vaccine skeptic Kennedy’s tenure.
After her dismissal, Anderson was so upset that she accidentally backed her car into Kennedy’s, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The fender bender was detailed in a WSJ profile on the growing infighting and turmoil within the Make America Healthy Again movement, including the forced resignation of Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official and head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Prasad was ousted in July, partly due to a pressure campaign by far-right activist Laura Loomer. During his spell, he had a combative stance against biotech firm Sarepta Therapeutics, and stopped shipments of a drug used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare muscle-wasting disease.
Prasad was later reinstated at the FDA after Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary persuaded White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to allow his return, according to the WSJ.
Chaos at HHS escalated further last week when Susan Monarez stepped down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after less than a month in the role, with several other top agency officials following her out.
Monarez clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy before being dismissed, and the White House said in a statement that she was “not aligned with the president’s agenda.”
Her ouster came shortly after the Daily Beast quoted a Kennedy ally claiming the Trump administration was considering pulling COVID-19 mRNA vaccines “within months.”
The WSJ also reports that Kennedy is facing pushback on his other priorities, including his targeting of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, over disputed claims linking it to cancer.
Kennedy’s push to restrict pesticides, despite concerns about potential disruptions to the food supply, prompted White House officials to demand earlier this year to stop discussing glyphosate, according to the WSJ. The health secretary has largely gone silent on the issue since.
The Department of Health and Human Services has been contacted for comment by the Daily Beast.
