RFK Jr. Invited To South Carolina State House

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Having decisively rejected “Republican” governor Henry McMaster‘s bid to install a clone of coronavirus authoritarian Anthony Fauci as South Carolina’s next health czar, GOP senators say they want to hear ideas on improving outcomes from the nation’s new health leader.

During a news-making meeting of the S.C. Senate finance committee on Wednesday (April 9, 2025), chairman Harvey Peeler – a veteran lawmaker from Gaffney, S.C. – said he wanted to hear from U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Bobby Kennedy seems to be making sense,” Peeler told his colleagues, saying he had become a fan of Kennedy via Joe Rogan‘s podcast.

Senate president Thomas Alexander said he would be “honored” to extend an invitation to Kennedy to address Palmetto State policymakers.

As he said he would do, Kennedy – a former Democrat-turned-independent presidential contender – has embarked on an effort to transform American health care.

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“In his first seven weeks atop HHS, (Kennedy) has dramatically reshaped the U.S. health apparatus, eliminating entire agency divisions, abruptly shifting policy priorities and leaving the sprawling department in what six current and former employees described as an unprecedented state of upheaval,” noted an alarmist recap of his tenure published this week by Politico‘s White House reporter Adam Cancryn.

Cancryn went on to accuse Kennedy of “stripping away centuries of collective expertise and institutional knowledge” at the agency and “decimating” offices which oversee key functions – part of “an unprecedented state of upheaval.”

Kennedy was pilloried this week by another standard-bearer of the far left – The Daily Beast – for having the audacity to suggest that many people “have a choice about how sick they’re going to be.”

“If you don’t have any choice then we should give you all the resources that you want,” Kennedy told CBS recently. “If you’re smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, should you expect society to pay when you get sick?”

Ultimately, Kennedy said, government should “incentivize people to take care of themselves, and then when they get sick, make sure they’re taken care of.”

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RELATED | McMASTER’S CONTROVERSIAL HEALTH CZAR

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United Health Foundation’s latest annual report (.pdf) ranked South Carolina No. 37 nationally in terms of overall health – its best performance on this index since the group began compiling data. Unfortunately, the Palmetto State ranked No. 43 nationally in pure health outcomes – with low scores for drug deaths, premature deaths, low birth weight, obesity and citizens with “multiple chronic conditions.”

South Carolina is heavily reliant on Medicaid. According to the latest data (.pdf) from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a whopping 1.14 million Palmetto State citizens are enrolled in the program. That includes one in eight adults, four in nine children and five out of every eight nursing home residents. An estimate 47% of live births in South Carolina are covered by Medicaid.

The S.C. Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) – which serves as a passthrough for Medicaid disbursements – is slated to receive $12.01 billion in the budget for the coming fiscal year, an increase of $334 million from the previous fiscal year.

Count on FITSNews to continue tracking these expenditures – and the outcomes they are purchasing (or failing to purchase) for the people of the Palmetto State. Also, count on us to keep our audience in the loop in the event Kennedy accepts the legislature’s invitation to share his thoughts on South Carolina’s health situation.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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