Ben Carson, a member of the first Trump administration, joined the Department of Agriculture on Wednesday as an advisor.
He was sworn in as the national advisor for nutrition, health and housing, four and a half years after his role as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development ended.
“There is no one more qualified than Dr. Carson to advise on policies that improve Americans’ everyday quality of life, from nutrition to healthcare quality to ensuring families have access to safe and stable housing,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a .
“As the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump Administration, Dr. Carson worked to expand opportunity and strengthen communities, and we are honored to welcome him to the second Trump Administration to help lead our efforts here at USDA to Make America Healthy Again and ensure rural America continues to prosper,” Rollins noted.
Carson will advise Rollins and President Donald Trump on policies related to nutrition, housing accessibility and “rural healthcare quality,” the department noted. He will serve as Agriculture’s “chief voice” on the matters and join Rollins on Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again Commission,” which has a stated purpose of advising the president on how he can best address childhood chronic diseases.
“Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,” Carson said. “I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.”
The Trump administration has recently been the subject of criticism for its health policies, including advisories that acetaminophen, the main ingredient of Tylenol, is linked to autism. Medical experts and some Republican lawmakers have rejected that claim, though, including Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Chairman Cassidy, who worked for decades in a Louisiana charity hospital system and taught at Louisiana State University’s medical school, said in a on social media platform X on Monday that more evidence shows there isn’t a link between the medication and autism.
“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support [the Department of Health and Human Services]. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim. The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case,” the senator wrote. “The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.”
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