President-elect Donald Trump A new report on Monday indicated that the transition team has named a former top health official from the first Trump administration and an ally of top Trump loyalists, Harmeet Dhillon, to be chief of staff to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
Heather Fleck, an attorney who previously served in several senior positions at Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During Trump's first administration, he worked closely with Kennedy over the past few weeks as his unofficial chief of staff, According to Politico. The outlet added on Monday that she had been tapped by Trump's transition team to fill the role permanently, according to four sources familiar with the matter. This announcement has not yet been announced.
Meanwhile, the law firm currently employing Flake, as well as its founder, congratulated her on the new position this week on their social media accounts. Fox News Digital has reached out Trump-Vance Transition Team To confirm but no response was received in time for publication.
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Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump at Macomb Community College on November 1, 2024 in Warren, Michigan. (Getty Images)
Flake's selection to serve in Trump's second administration is just the latest selection from a list of Trump loyalists who took jobs in the administration during his second term. When Flake first joined the Trump administration, she was serving as acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services before becoming acting administrative secretary and eventually senior adviser to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
Before joining HHS for the first time, Flake was an attorney at Dhillon Law Group, an established firm By Dillon, Who was appointed by Trump this time to be Assistant Attorney General.
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Dillon has represented clients in major conservative civil rights cases and defended Trump supporters in court. During the pandemic, I was challenged California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom stay-at-home orders, and in 2020, she served as co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, a conservative group of lawyers supporting Trump throughout the 2020 election. Most recently, Dillon helped lead Trump's election integrity team in Arizona during the 2024 election.
President-elect Donald Trump, right, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are jointly targeted by the Democratic National Committee. (Getty Images)
“Heather Flake is fantastic and will certainly assist soon-to-be Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, said in a post on X after news of Flake's new role.
Politico reported that Flake's appointment comes amid grumbling from some Kennedy allies that he could advance an agenda not quite in line with Trump's world, but more centered around Kennedy's priorities.
The potential Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services holds meetings with lawmakers Capitol Hill Recently trying to support support. Both Democrats and Republicans have sharply criticized the Health and Human Services secretary nominee's views on vaccines, while Republicans have also been investigating Kennedy during the meetings over his past pro-choice views on abortion.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, meets with the office of Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) at the Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
Kennedy's critics have questioned his ability to handle major crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and have assumed Kennedy is pushing conspiracy theories about things like vaccines and antidepressants. Meanwhile, business leaders noted there was cause for concern, too, due to Kennedy's previous claims about the dangers of food additives, pesticides and vaccines.
Flake will be tasked with helping Kennedy remove some of that criticism. One former FDA official, who was granted anonymity to speak publicly, told Politico that depending on how involved HHS secretaries are in the agency's work, their chief of staff could end up being “very involved.”
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“On the really high-profile stuff, if she was an effective chief of staff, she could be very involved,” the former official added. “I've certainly seen that happen across multiple departments.”
