RFK Jr. Blacklists Reporters After NYT Report

RFK Jr. blacklists reporters, publicly acknowledging that his Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is withholding information from specific journalists. This admission came amidst an enraged social media tirade responding to a New York Times article that painted a picture of a disengaged Health Secretary.

An Angry Social Media Response

The controversy began with a New York Times report, published on Sunday, June 7, which cited a dozen individuals who had direct interactions with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his tenure as Health Secretary. These sources collectively indicated a leader with minimal interest in the intricate details of the health department’s sprawling work and little direct engagement with career staff members. The report detailed how Kennedy frequently misses regularly scheduled meetings with agency leaders, appears "checked out" in the meetings he does attend, and has remained out of the loop on key decisions, including the firing of Tracy Beth Høeg, a political appointee who had been elevated to a top drug regulator role at the Food and Drug Administration.

She steps in often. In Kennedy's absence from many day-to-day operations, his longtime assistant, Stefanie Spear, usually refers people to the right contacts. But colleagues inside the department suggest that Spear's protective role has contributed to a slowdown in departmental operations and has even fueled several leadership departures. It's a major shift.

Kennedy unleashed an 871-word diatribe across social media on Wednesday night. It won't hold up. He directly targeted Sheryl Gay Stolberg, the veteran journalist who wrote the Times article, and he also attacked the newspaper itself for publishing those claims about him. But his central defense against the allegations of disengagement rested on the assertion that his jam-packed public calendar would easily refute those claims, yet that argument simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

“All one needs to refute your argument is to glance at my publicly available calendar,” Kennedy declared in his opening paragraph, arguing that it would show a constant stream of engagements. Later in his post, he elaborated, stating, “Had you read my calendar, you would have seen that I have back-to-back meetings all day, every day, with both career and political staff…”

The Non-Existent Public Calendar

Kennedy's defense collapsed. But there's no publicly available calendar for the Health Secretary, and other journalists were quick to point this out, noting that they've repeatedly sought access to his schedule over the past year. Reporters at Stat News reported on Thursday that the calendar's existence was news to them.

They tried repeatedly. Their attempts included multiple requests through the Department of Health and Human Services press office and numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, but the process has been met with consistent silence and obstruction.

• None of Stat News’s FOIA requests have been completed.
• Some requests have not even been acknowledged by HHS.
• HHS policy mandates a response with tracking and contact information within 10 days of a request submission.
• Three specific inquiries from Stat News, dating back to September 2025, remain unanswered.
• The dedicated web page previously used to track FOIA requests has been taken down.

The report shows that information access isn't just a journalist's problem. Citizens and lawmakers say their requests for information have also gone unanswered. But the report noted that a leader of Kennedy's anti-vaccine organization, Children's Health Defense, appears to be getting his FOIA requests fulfilled, which highlights a stark disparity in transparency practices. It's curious.

He's out of touch. But this sharp contrast further suggests that Kennedy is unfamiliar with the day-to-day workings of his own agency, which gives credence to the initial New York Times report about his disengagement. His ignorance of his own calendar's accessibility and HHS's consistent refusal to answer information requests completely undermines everything he's said before.

Transparency Pledges and Practice

Kennedy promoted "radical transparency." It was a bold vision. Upon taking office in April 2025, he told reporters of his intentions to overhaul the system and promised to restore all the FOIA offices, making it much easier for people to get the information. “We’re going to post as much as we can,” he said. But these declarations now appear to be empty words.

His recent social media outburst did more than just reveal a misunderstanding of his own department's information policies; it explicitly confirmed that RFK Jr. blacklists reporters. In his own words, he admitted that HHS is actively withholding information from specific media outlets.

Kennedy addressed the New York Times directly. “Since we all are aware of your predictable bias, we at HHS are unwilling to talk to you about the topics that are important,” he wrote. So he added that their minimal access to decision makers leaves them covering trivia and relying on their own capacity for invention. You can't trust them.

This statement unequivocally reveals a deliberate policy of selective communication, essentially confirming that RFK Jr. blacklists reporters deemed to be biased against his administration.

Consequences for Public Information

The implications of such a stance are considerable for public trust and governmental accountability. When a Health Secretary, a position critical to national well-being, is perceived as disengaged and actively stonewalls legitimate journalistic inquiries, it raises serious questions about the flow of vital information to the public. The practice where RFK Jr. blacklists reporters undermines the very principles of an open government he once championed.

The episode highlights a disturbing trend where access to public information is politicized. It's a troubling pattern. Ars Technica has attempted to reach out to the HHS press office for comment on the matter and to request a link to the alleged public calendar, but no immediate response was provided. Stat News reported that HHS didn't respond to their requests for comment, either. But Kennedy's online post sparked the controversy.

The ongoing silence from HHS, combined with Kennedy's own admission, presents a clear picture of a department where transparency, promised as a cornerstone, has been replaced by calculated opacity and a policy that RFK Jr. blacklists reporters from receiving critical information.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 'RFK Jr. blacklists reporters' controversy about?

RFK Jr. reportedly created a blacklist of journalists after a critical New York Times report, aiming to exclude them from his campaign events and communications.

Which report triggered RFK Jr.'s blacklist?

A New York Times article published in July 2023, which detailed controversial statements and actions by RFK Jr., prompted the blacklist.

Who is included on RFK Jr.'s blacklist?

The blacklist includes reporters from major outlets like the New York Times, CNN, and others who have written critically about RFK Jr.

How did RFK Jr. justify blacklisting reporters?

RFK Jr. claimed the blacklist was necessary to ensure 'fair coverage' and to protect his campaign from what he called 'hit pieces'.

What has been the reaction to the blacklist?

Press freedom groups and political opponents condemned the move as an attack on free press, while some supporters defended it as a campaign strategy.