Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, speaks during a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-01-23T00:18:37Z WASHINGTON (AP) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is distancing himself from his anti-vaccine work as he seeks to become the leader of the nations top health agency under President Donald Trump, according to government ethics documents released Wednesday. Kennedy has pulled in roughly $10 million in income from his work over the past year, which includes speaking fees, leading an anti-vaccine nonprofit and legal fees, government ethics forms filed for his nomination show. He has millions of dollars more tied up in investments and other assets. If confirmed, he has promised to stop collecting fees on some of his vaccine lawsuits involving the U.S. government. Kennedy is a lawyer who has worked on lawsuits involving environmental and vaccine injury claims against some of the countrys biggest companies. He also said he would forgo payment from claims against the U.S. under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program. A spokesperson for Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the filing. As of December, Kennedy said in the filing that he is no longer serving as chairman or chief legal counsel for Childrens Health Defense, his nonprofit that launched lawsuits against the federal government over vaccines, including the authorization of the COVID-19 shot in children. He previously made a $326,000 salary for three months of work at the nonprofit in 2023. But he will still benefit in other ways from his anti-vaccine advocacy, which has spanned several years. Compensation will continue to flow into Kennedys bank accounts from referral fees for legal cases that dont involve the U.S. government, including fees he collects from a law firm thats sued Merck over Gardasil, its human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. Last year, he made over $850,000 from the arrangement. He will also still get royalties from books hes written, some of which have spread falsehoods about vaccine safety and other health issues. Kennedy said he expects at least $2 million in advances for two forthcoming books, though he said he would not promote or do further work on those titles if confirmed. Despite his criticism of the pharmaceutical industry, Kennedy also holds investments in biotech industries, which he would regulate if confirmed to lead the Health and Human Services Department. Kennedy says he plans to divest as much as $50,000 with Dragonfly Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that develops cancer drugs, as well as up to $15,000 he has in CRISPR Therapeutics, a gene-editing technology. A Senate finance committee hearing for Kennedy is scheduled for later this month. The lawyer-turned-politician was seen around Washington in recent days, joining in on festivities for Trumps inauguration. He even hosted his own Make America Healthy Again ball on the day Trump was sworn in. MAHA has become a popular slogan among Trump and Kennedy loyalists alike. And thats another thing Kennedy reports hes profited from in his ethics filing MAHA merchandise, which has made him $100,000. Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I. contributed to this report. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto