Calley Means Returns to Health Department as Senior Adviser

Health care entrepreneur Calley Means — a driving force behind Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweeping health reform agenda — has officially returned to the Department of Health and Human Services in a powerful new capacity, according to The New York Times. HHS recently updated its internal directory listing Means as a senior adviser, confirming what many in Washington already suspected: Kennedy wants Means inside the building full-time as he reshapes a bureaucracy long captured by Big Pharma and processed-food lobbyists.

Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, confirmed Means’ hiring on Tuesday. Means will “focus primarily on food and nutrition policy,” an area where he has already pushed the administration to break sharply with the failed health orthodoxies of past administrations. Means formerly served as a special government employee — a temporary, part-time role capped at 130 workdays per year — but announced last month that he had stepped down from that limited post.

Means has since emerged as one of the most influential figures behind Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, an effort strongly backed by President Donald Trump as part of the administration’s broader push to restore health freedom, overhaul dietary guidelines, and challenge the entrenched industries that profit from chronic disease.

During his earlier tenure, Means spearheaded several high-impact efforts inside the department, including a sweeping federal report detailing the worsening health crisis facing American children. He has also leaned heavily into reforming federal dietary policy — posting an image of the old federal food pyramid on social media and calling it “one of the deadliest documents in American history.”

A frequent presence on podcasts and health panels, Means argues that the current system is designed around “sick care,” not prevention, and often describes modern medicine as a “pharmaceutical treadmill” built to keep Americans dependent on drugs instead of addressing root causes. He has consistently praised what he calls Kennedy’s “early accomplishments” while criticizing the “broken and corrupt” medical bureaucracy the Trump administration is now attempting to overhaul.

Means also co-authored the 2024 best-selling book Good Energy with his sister, Dr. Casey Means — President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s nominee for surgeon general. Dr. Means was scheduled to testify before the Senate Health Committee last month, but the hearing was postponed after she went into labor shortly before it began.

A co-founder of Truemed — a startup that allows consumers to use flexible spending accounts for supplements, fitness equipment, and other wellness products — Means had faced scrutiny from congressional Democrats over possible conflicts of interest. Two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary Kennedy last month demanding information on Means’ financial disclosures.

On Tuesday, Nixon stated that Means will fully divest from Truemed as he transitions into his senior adviser role. Joe Vladeck, Truemed’s general counsel, confirmed via email that Means has left the company entirely and “no longer holds any position or influence within the startup.”

Means’ expanded role comes as Secretary Kennedy continues to face intense political attacks over his aggressive reforms at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kennedy recently removed the CDC’s long-standing vaccine advisory panel — long criticized for deep pharmaceutical conflicts — and replaced it with members who voted to eliminate the combined MMRV shot for children while scaling back universal recommendations for both COVID-19 and hepatitis B vaccines.

The secretary also recently faced a security scare. In September, authorities responded to a bomb threat at Kennedy’s Georgetown home. Police K-9 units swept the residence and surrounding areas, ultimately finding no explosives. “The scene remains active as the investigation continues,” officials told Newsmax. Authorities have not yet disclosed further details about the suspect or the credibility of the threat.

Despite bipartisan pushback, Kennedy and Means continue to advance one of the most aggressive overhauls of federal health policy in modern history — an effort embraced by President Trump as part of his promise to dismantle corrupt health bureaucracies and rebuild a system focused on prevention, transparency, and patient freedom.