Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, a brokerage firm formerly headed by former Trump administration official Howard Lutnick, have called for the dismissal of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. due to his anti-vaccine stance.
Kennedy, known for being a vaccine skeptic, recently announced plans to reshape federal public health agencies, which could lead to the firing of thousands of workers. Cantor analysts Josh Schimmer and Eric Schmidt expressed their concerns in a note, stating that Kennedy’s views are “undermining trusted leadership” in healthcare and that his lack of training makes him unfit for the role.
The analysts noted that the ouster of FDA’s top vaccine official, Peter Marks, was not due to politics but rather because he took a scientifically-driven approach to reviewing vaccine safety. In contrast, Kennedy has been accused of promoting an “anti-science agenda” that undermines public health.
Cantor Fitzgerald emphasized in a statement that their analysts’ views are independent and not influenced by politics or market performance. The firm’s executives have recently undergone leadership changes, with Howard Lutnick stepping down to run the Trump administration’s commerce department and his sons taking over as chairman and executive vice chairman of the brokerage.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/analysts-cantor-formerly-headed-by-lutnick-call-kennedys-dismissal-2025-03-31