RFK Jr. claims his calendar is publicly available. We’ve been trying to get it for a year

Politics RFK Jr. claims his calendar is publicly available. We’ve been trying to get it for a year Kennedy promised ‘radical transparency.’ HHS has faced lawsuits for records and lawmaker ire over information requests. Manage alerts for this article Email this article Share this article By Chelsea Cirruzzo and Daniel PayneJune 11, 2026 Chelsea Cirruzzo[email protected]Chelsea covers the Department of Health and Human Services with a particular focus on power and influence at the top. Confidential tips can be sent via Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42.Daniel Payne[email protected]Daniel covers the intersection of the health industry and the federal government. He reports on corporate influence in government, the health consequences of federal policies, and the politics of health care. Confidential tips can be sent on Signal at danielp.100. WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday pointed to his “publicly available calendar” as an example of his commitment to transparency and to beat back unfavorable reporting. But no such calendar, detailing who Kennedy meets with or how he spends his time, has been released by the administration. STAT has been asking the Department of Health and Human Services for Kennedy’s calendar for more than a year, via Freedom of Information Act requests and emails to the press office.Advertisement Kennedy came into office advocating for “radical transparency,” and promising to open up government. His department has instead faced lawsuits over failures to release information, cut staffers who handle FOIA requests, and drawn anger from lawmakers, who can’t get responses to their queries, either. He’s even acknowledged that HHS blacklists certain journalists because leaders disagree with their work. Since last year, STAT reporters have requested the calendars of Kennedy and his principal deputy chief of staff, Stefanie Spear, multiple times. That has included a request last February for a calendar from Kennedy’s first two weeks on the job and then a request last June for Spear’s calendars since she started in her role. Spear, whose personal office is attached to Kennedy’s, is known to attend nearly every meeting with the secretary. The HHS press office did not respond to questions about the public calendar Kennedy described, the number of staffers currently in FOIA offices across the agency, the response times to requests compared to earlier administrations, or which outlets were being restricted by the administration.Advertisement None of STAT’s FOIA requests have been completed, and some haven’t been acknowledged — despite HHS policy requiring a response with tracking and contact information within 10 days of submitting a request. That includes three STAT inquiries from September 2025. The web page previously used to track requests has been taken down. STAT has been denied expedited processing for some of its requests and has appealed. As of March, one of STAT’s appeals had more than 600 others ahead of it in the queue, the agency told attorneys representing STAT. In April 2025, Kennedy promised to speed up the department’s ability to manage FOIA requests. “We’re restoring all the FOIA offices and we’re going to make it much easier for people to get the information. We’re going to post as much as we can,” he told reporters at a press conference. He also empathized with concerns about the time it takes to get a response. “I spent a lot of years litigating under FOIA and I experienced the frustration of going year after year and being stonewalled by the agency…we all understand how important it is to have clear communication,” he said. More than a year later, HHS FOIA officials tell STAT that the office is still in the midst of a “significant transition.” A new FOIA portal Kennedy promised has yet to come online, though officials say it will be available “soon.” In the meantime, the office said at least one FOIA — the request for Spear’s calendars that we submitted last June — will take another 180 days, amid a backlog of 12,000 requests and “limited resources.” It’s not just journalists or citizens filing FOIA requests who have faced barriers. Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly voiced frustration that Kennedy and his team are unresponsive to requests — even after the secretary agrees during hearings to release information. (A spokesperson for the Senate Finance Committee’s minority leadership said Thursday they haven’t heard back on multiple requests to HHS.) Advertisement Some Republican lawmakers who got promises from Kennedy to follow up on issues did not respond to questions about whether he had followed through. At the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS that oversees trillions of federal health care dollars, opacity has been the rule of the day since before the Trump administration. But the situation has worsened in recent years, and it has become almost impossible to speak with CMS officials, as STAT’s Bob Herman recently documented. (CMS previously told STAT: “No reporter is entitled to interviews, press calls, or access to internal staff. CMS will continue to engage through established channels that ensure accuracy, consistency, and transparent communication.”) Additional inquiries sent to CMS by STAT regarding Administrator Mehmet Oz’s anti-fraud crackdown have gone unanswered. CMS did not respond when reached for comment. In May 2025, the Center for Biological Diversity sued HHS for failing to release Kennedy’s public calendars. The group also asked for information on the development of the updated dietary guidelines. The case hasn’t moved forward in the District of Columbia courts. FOIA requests have long been drawn-out processes, no matter the administration. But some accountability advocates were hopeful that one of Kennedy’s core promises — to restore “radical transparency” to HHS — would change that. Instead, the Trump administration slashed staffing at the office tasked with reviewing records requests and releasing legally required information. (There is ongoing litigation over the administration’s changes.) Kennedy said Wednesday that the agency restricts access to some reporters because officials disagree with their stories, adding that HHS leaders are “unwilling” to talk to New York Times reporters about “topics that are important.” Not all groups have been boxed out — and some have even seen better response times under this administration. Brian Hooker, the chief scientific officer for Children’s Health Defense — a vaccine-skeptical group founded by Kennedy — said earlier this year the queue appears to be moving faster than in the past.Advertisement Hooker, who for years has been a prolific public information requester, said at least one FOIA request submitted in March 2025 was returned in December — much faster than the 12-month timeline he came to expect — though he noted it would take longer to better understand this administration’s ability to produce documents. Now, Hooker’s asking for more. “Our tendency now is to ask for more information — that we feel should be public, than in the past — and probably more detailed,” he said in a March interview, noting he expected more voluntary disclosures from HHS. “I’m not giving the administration a pass.” Isabella Cueto contributed reporting. CMS, HHS, Policy, public health, RFK Jr. Submit a correction requestReprints Chelsea Cirruzzo Washington Correspondent Chelsea covers the Department of Health and Human Services with a particular focus on power and influence at the top. Confidential tips can be sent via Signal at chelseacirruzzo.42. Daniel Payne Washington Correspondent Daniel covers the intersection of the health industry and the federal government. He reports on corporate influence in government, the health consequences of federal policies, and the politics of health care. Confidential tips can be sent on Signal at danielp.100. 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