A New Day in the Nation’s Capital: CHD Agenda Now at Center of Government Policy

Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland was in Washington, D.C, this week to attend a U.S. Senate hearing on COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis, and to witness the unveiling of the Make America Healthy Again 100-day report.

by Mary Holland, J.D.

MAY 23, 2025

I was proud to represent Children’s Health Defense (CHD) over the past two days in the nation’s capital by attending Senator Ron Johnson’s hearing of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on COVID-19 vaccines, and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s release of its 100-day report.

Although massive work lies ahead, it seems the health freedom movement has finally arrived. Finally, the President of the U.S. and his Cabinet are truly acknowledging for the first time what we have been screaming from the rooftops for decades: Our children are sick and we must stop this!

CHD’s founder, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — now U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services — is working with the president and other cabinet members on what has been CHD’s agenda for 10 years!

Far from being fringe, CHD’s agenda to end the epidemic of chronic childhood disease is now at the center of government policy.

At the White House meeting yesterday, Secretary Kennedy declared the crisis of chronic childhood disease “existential.”

Several cabinet members pointed out that children today will have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents if trends continue, even though we spend two to three times what any other country spends on healthcare.

Kennedy highlighted the need for a nuanced and adult conversation about the situation’s gravity.

One of the most striking features of the commission meeting was its collegiality. The high-ranking officials assembled conveyed a genuine commitment to tackling the problem and exhibited real friendship and mutual respect.

The heads of the health agencies and Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Labor, and the Office of Management and Budget were all there, proving that this truly is an all-of-government undertaking.

I had the extraordinary experience of having Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, express their sincere gratitude to me for CHD’s work.

Needless to say, these accolades would have been unthinkable a year ago, let alone 10 years ago.

The 100-day MAHA Report does not have everything we would want, but it’s a solid start. And the job of those outside government is to ensure that this initial assessment turns into the action plan needed to reverse the chronic disease epidemic that plagues America’s children.

Senator Johnson’s hearing was also an important start to getting to the bottom of what went wrong with the government’s COVID-19 policy.

Dr. Peter McCullough reviewed the FDA’s dishonesty in failing to inform the public about myocarditis from the COVID-19 injections. Dr. Joel Wallskog talked about how the medical establishment abandoned those injured and its own medical ethics.

Attorney Aaron Siri explained how the vaccine liability shield disincentivizes safety, with consumers unable to sue for failure to warn or defective design claims.

Dr. Josh Green, governor of Hawaii, attempted to justify draconian COVID-19 policies, but the audience was not having it.

A screening of the film “Follow the Silenced,” playing on the hackneyed “Follow the Science” phrase, took place at the Capitol after the hearing. The poignant movie depicts the suffering of those injured by the COVID-19 shots, and the government’s abject failure to address those injuries.

Not a person in the audience had a dry eye by the end of that film.

Despite tragic injuries, the film depicts the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and create life-sustaining connections and community.

The audience left the film galvanized to do more to help those harmed and to ensure that the coercion, censorship and the lies of COVID never happen again.

Together, these events give me great hope that we are at the start of a new beginning in the journey to make America and our children healthy again. A new landscape is emerging of a coalition to push forward the MAHA agenda.

CHD will be a part of this coalition effort that has coalesced in recent weeks around the MAHA Institute. We will continue to focus on children’s health, while the broader coalition working with the MAHA Institute will push forward on many fronts, including food, agriculture, over-medicalization and corruption in all health areas.

The Make America Healthy Again movement has broad support across America — but it will take even more engagement for Congress to be able to pass meaningful legislation to ensure a healthier America.

CHD remains dedicated to its catalytic roles in education, advocacy, litigation and science to make children healthy again! Please join us!

Mary Holland, J.D. is CEO of Children’s Health Defense. She has been writing and advocating for better vaccine law and policy for many years, including while she served on the faculty at NYU School of Law from 2002-19. She is co-author of two books on vaccines, “Vaccine Epidemic” and “The HPV Vaccine on Trial,” as well as several law review articles.