RFK Jr. is bringing psychedelics to the Republican party
Driven by a desire to help ex-servicemembers with mental illness, GOP lawmakers led a failed campaign last year to persuade the Biden administration to approve psychedelic drugs.
Now they may have found the ally they need in President Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A longtime believer in psychedelics' potential to help people with illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, despite the lack of supportive evidence Biden officials found, Kennedy is ramping up government-run clinical studies and telling the disappointed lawmakers doctors will be prescribing the drugs soon.
'These are people who badly need some kind of therapy, nothing else is working for them,' Kennedy said at a House hearing Tuesday. 'This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting. And we are working very hard to make sure that that happens within 12 months.'
The GOP's embrace of psychedelics is another, and perhaps one of the more jarring, examples of cultural transformation that Trump's populist politics have brought.
Veterans seeking cures for mental illnesses associated with combat, combined with the Kennedy-backed Make America Healthy Again movement's enthusiasm for natural medicine, have strengthened a libertarian strain on the right in favor of drug experimentation. Meanwhile, the left, where hippies are giving way to technocrats, has become more skeptical.
When Joe Biden was president, for example, agencies studied the drugs' medical potential, but an air of doubt prevailed. The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora Volkow, compared the hype for psychedelics as a cure for mental illness to belief in 'fairy tales' in Senate testimony last year.
Then in August, the Food and Drug Administration rejected drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics' application to offer ecstasy, alongside therapy, as a treatment for PTSD. FDA advisers worried the company's researchers were more evangelists than scientists and determined that they'd failed to prove their regimen was either safe or effective.
Republicans complained the loudest.
'These technocrats think they know better,' Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye in Afghanistan, wrote on X after FDA advisers recommended Lykos' application be rejected. 'Their job is to say NO and support the status quo.'
But Crenshaw, who's helped secure funding for psychedelic research at the Defense Department, got the response he wanted from Kennedy at Tuesday's budget hearing. Kennedy said results from early government studies at the Department of Veterans Affairs and FDA were 'very, very encouraging.' He added that his FDA commissioner, Marty Makary, sees it the same way. 'Marty has told me that we don't want to wait two years to get this done,' he said.
Crenshaw was pleased. 'I've spent years supporting clinical trials to study the use of psychedelics to treat PTSD,' he told POLITICO. 'It's been a long fight, and it's taken a lot of grit. I'm grateful Secretary Kennedy is taking this seriously — helping to mainstream what could be a groundbreaking shift in mental health.'
Kennedy's comments have revived hope among psychedelics' advocates that the Lykos decision was more hiccup than death knell. 'It's important for the entire community and the entire value chain around psychedelic therapy to hear that he wants to responsibly explore the benefits and risks of these therapies,' said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, a health official at the VA under Biden who sees promise in the drugs.
The VA, under Trump's secretary, Doug Collins, is working directly with Kennedy on clinical research.
Collins has referenced psychedelics on a podcast appearance, on X and at a cabinet meeting this spring when Trump pressed him on what he's doing to drive down the high suicide rate among veterans.
'I talk with Collins about it all the time,' Kennedy said Tuesday. 'It's something that both of us are deeply interested in.'
Earlier this month, Texas' Republican governor, Greg Abbott, signed a law to put $50 million into clinical trials of the psychedelic ibogaine, as a mental health treatment.
'That culture shift is underway,' W. Bryan Hubbard, who spearheaded the Texas bill and is executive director of the American Ibogaine Initiative, told POLITICO. As Hubbard sees it, the narrative around psychedelics has evolved from counterculture recreation to a promising medical treatment for the 'deaths of despair' from alcohol, drug overdoses and suicides the United States has grappled with in recent decades.
Kennedy was happy to see it.
'It's super positive. It is really notable that the Republicans have become the party of some of these issues you wouldn't have expected before,' Calley Means, a top Kennedy adviser, told POLITICO. 'States pushing the envelope is certainly aligned with what Secretary Kennedy is trying to do. It gives him leverage to push bolder reforms.'
The Texas effort involved a six-month sprint by Hubbard and former GOP Gov. Rick Perry to convince state lawmakers to pass the bill. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, another Lone Star Republican who credits ibogaine he took in Mexico with helping him overcome trauma he incurred during military service, also lobbied for it.
Hubbard attributes their success partly to Texas' independent pioneer culture and a red-state philosophy that was receptive to his pitch for a medicalized psychedelics model. It didn't hurt that Abbott had signed a bill to study ecstasy, psilocybin and ketamine as treatments for veterans with PTSD with Baylor College of Medicine. And since Texans are no stranger to religion, conversations about the spiritual aspect of ibogaine treatment seemed to resonate with lawmakers.
'We had a message that was tailor-made for the Lone Star State,' he said.
Veterans turned out at public hearings to describe traveling out of the country, often to Mexico, where ibogaine is unregulated, to receive treatment they couldn't access in the U.S.
'These heroes have gone to war to defend the land of the free, only to come home and be faced with inflexible, bureaucratic systems that offer ineffectual solutions, paired with the Controlled Substances Act that has forced them to flee the country that they have defended in order to access treatment in a foreign country,' Hubbard said.
But the biggest momentum push was likely the boost Hubbard and Perry got from conservative kingmaker Joe Rogan when the two went on Rogan's podcast in January.
'That really put a tremendous amount of wind in our sails,' Hubbard said.
Still, last year's FDA decision to reject Lykos Therapeutics' application underscores the concerns raised by many scientists that the utility of the drugs is oversold.
FDA advisers raised ecstasy's potential to damage the heart and liver; a suspicion that trial researchers were more advocates than scientists; and a worry that results had been skewed by the psychedelics' pronounced effects, since participants could figure out if they got the drug.
Ibogaine also poses heart risks. The Drug Enforcement Administration lists both it and ecstasy on its schedule of drugs with no currently acceptable medical use and high risk of abuse.
That would have once been enough to make law-and-order Republicans say no.
Kennedy's adviser Means says things are changing for the better.
'Ten years ago, nobody expected the Republican Party as the party of healthy food, as the party of exercise, as the party of questioning pharmaceutical companies, as the party of psychedelic research — but that's where we are,' Means said.
'The Democratic Party has become the party of blindly trusting experts,' he concluded. 'The Republican Party has become the countercultural party that's asking common-sense questions.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Debate is underway in the Senate on Trump's big bill, but overnight voting is delayed
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But other Senate Republicans, along with conservatives in the House, are pushing for steeper cuts, particularly to health care, drawing their own unexpected warning from Trump. Advertisement 'Don't go too crazy!' the president posted on social media. 'REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected.' All told, the Senate bill includes some $4 trillion in tax cuts, making permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. Advertisement The Senate package would roll back billions in green energy tax credits that Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide, and impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements and making sign-up eligibility more stringent. Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants. If the Senate can pass the bill, it would need to return to the House. Speaker Mike Johnson has told lawmakers to be on call for a return to Washington this week. Democrats ready to fight all night Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill, the Democrats as the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process. Democrats forced a full reading of the text, which took some 16 hours. Then senators took over the debate, filling the chamber with speeches, while Republicans largely stood aside. 'Reckless and irresponsible,' said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. 'A gift to the billionaire class,' said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now 'current policy' and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits. 'In my 33 years here in the United States Senate, things have never — never — worked this way,' said Murray, the longest-serving Democrat on the Budget Committee. Advertisement She said that kind of 'magic math' won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books. 'Go back home and try that game with your constituents,' she said. 'We still need to kick people off their health care — that's too expensive. We still need to close those hospitals — we have to cut costs. And we still have to kick people off SNAP — because the debt is out of control.' Sanders said Tillis' decision not to seek reelection shows the hold that Trump's cult of personality has over the GOP. 'We are literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids,' Sanders said, while giving tax breaks to Jeff Bezos and other wealthy billionaires. GOP leaders unfazed Republicans are using their majorities to push aside Democratic opposition, and appeared undeterred, even as they have run into a series of political and policy setbacks. 'We're going to pass the 'Big, beautiful bill,' said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman. The holdout Republicans remain reluctant to give their votes, and their leaders have almost no room to spare, given their narrow majorities. Essentially, they can afford three dissenters in the Senate, with its 53-47 GOP edge, and about as many in the House, if all members are present and voting. Trump, who has at times allowed wiggle room on his deadline, kept the pressure on lawmakers to finish. He threatened to campaign aginst Tillis, who was worried that Medicaid cuts would leave many without health care in his state. Trump badgered Tillis again on Sunday morning, saying the senator 'has hurt the great people of North Carolina.' Advertisement Later Sunday, Tillis issued a lengthy statement announcing he would not seek reelection in 2026. In an impassioned evening speech, Tillis shared his views arguing the Senate approach is a betrayal of Trump's promise not to kick people off health care. 'We could take the time to get this right,' he thundered. But until then, he said he would remain opposed. Democrats can't filibuster, but can stall Using a congressional process called budget reconciliation, the Republicans can rely on a simple majority vote in the Senate, rather than the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome objections. Without the filibuster, Democrats have latched on to other tools to mount their objections. One is the full reading of the bill text, which has been done in past situations. Democrats also intend to use their full 10 hours of available debate time, now underway. And then Democrats are prepared to propose dozens of amendments to the package, a process called vote-a-rama. But Republicans late Sunday postponed that expected overnight session to early Monday. GOP senators to watch As Saturday's vote tally teetered, attention turned to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was surrounded by GOP leaders in intense conversation. She voted 'yes.' Several provisions in the package are designed for her state in Alaska, but some were out of compliance of the strict rules by the Senate parliamentarian. A short time later, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., drew holdouts Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming to his office. Vance joined in. Later, Scott said, 'We all want to get to yes.' Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Fatima Hussein and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Tillis: Senate bill breaks Trump's promise on Medicaid
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday that the Senate version of President Trump's massive spending bill 'will betray the very promise' the president made when he pledged not to interfere with people's Medicaid benefits. Tillis — who voted against the bill in a key procedural vote Saturday night and announced Sunday he would not run for reelection — delivered a scathing rebuke of the president's agenda-setting bill in a Senate floor speech, explaining his position and pledging to withhold his vote unless his concerns about drastic cuts to Medicaid are addressed. 'What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore, guys? I think the people in the White House… advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise,' Tillis said in his floor speech. Tillis said he gathered various estimates about the effect of the provider-tax provision and presented them to White House experts, who 'admitted that we were right' but said North Carolina is just 'going to have to make it work.' Tillis appealed to the president directly, telling him that his advisers are not informing him of the actual consequences for Medicaid coverage that will inevitably transpire if the bill passes in its current form. 'Now Republicans are about to make a mistake on health care and betraying a promise,' Tillis said. 'It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office or in the cabinet room, when I was there with finance, where he said, we can go after waste, fraud, and abuse on any programs.' 'Now, those amateurs that are advising him — not Dr. Oz, I'm talking about White House health care experts — refuse to tell him that those instructions, that were to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, all of a sudden eliminates a government program that's called the provider tax,' he continued. Tillis criticized the Senate GOP for rushing to meet Trump's July 4 deadline, rather than taking the time to consider the impact on their states. He also said he would be inclined to support the House version of the Medicaid proposal and lamented his party's resistance to considering changes. 'I am telling the president that you have been misinformed,' Tillis said. 'You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.' 'I love the work requirement. I love the other reforms in this bill. They are necessary, and I appreciate the leadership of the House for putting it in there,' he continued. 'In fact, I like the work of the House so much that I wouldn't be having to do this speech if we simply started with the House mark. I've talked with my colleagues in North Carolina. I know that we can do that. And I believe that we can make sure that we do not break the promise of Donald J. Trump, that he's made to the people who are on Medicaid today.' He closed out his speech pledging doubling down on his position against the bill. 'We owe it to the American people, and I owe it to the people of North Carolina, to withhold my affirmative vote until it's demonstrated to me that we've done our homework, we're going to make sure that we fulfill the promise. And then I can feel good about a bill that I'm willing to vote for,' he said. 'But until that time, I will be withholding my vote.' Trump had attacked Tillis for his opposition to the bill and, this weekend, floated the prospect of backing a primary challenge to the senator.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Senate GOP leaders face a farm bill floor fight in megabill debate
Hours after announcing his retirement, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis went to the Senate floor and slammed the GOP's plans for drastic Medicaid cuts — warning Republicans they are about to 'make a mistake on health care and betray a promise' if their sprawling domestic policy bill passes. 'It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,' Tillis said. 'I'm telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.' Tillis, who opposed the bill on a procedural vote Saturday night and then announced Sunday he would not seek reelection, said he could not vote for the Senate's bill because of provisions that he said would kick some 663,000 residents of his state off their health care plans. He called on the Senate GOP to jettison its 'artificial' July 4 deadline and rewrite the bill. 'I respect President Trump, I support the majority of his agenda, but I don't bow to anybody when the people of North Carolina are at risk, and this puts them at risk,' Tillis told reporters after he left the floor. The two-term senator who has been known for working across the aisle said he had done his own research on how changes to so-called state directed payments and a new cap on medical providers taxes would affect his state — contacting state legislative leaders, the state's Democratic governor, Josh Stein and hospital groups. Tillis said he also talked to CMS Director Mehmet Oz and presented his findings that showed the best-case scenario was a $26 billion cut in federal support. 'After three different attempts for them to discredit our estimates, the day before yesterday they admitted that we were right,' Tillis said on the floor. 'They can't find a hole in my estimate.' In his remarks to reporters, he said Trump is 'getting a lot of advice from people who have never governed and all they've done is written white papers,' adding that he has 'people from an ivory tower driving him into a box canyon.' Tillis, who was elected to the Senate in 2014, compared Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to the Affordable Care Act: 'The effect of this bill is to break a promise. And you know, the last time I saw a promise broken around health care, with respect to my friends on the other side of the aisle is when somebody said, 'If you like your health care, you can keep it.'' The Senate is now working through up to 20 hours of debate, before a marathon voting series of amendments scheduled to start Monday morning. Tillis said he might return to the floor to speak against the bill. Trump lambasted Tillis Saturday night after he voted against opening debate on the megabill, and Tillis said he'd already told Trump at that point he was likely to retire. 'Pretty much what I said on the floor is what I said to the president last night and I stand by it,' Tillis told reporters after the speech, adding later that he told the President he 'probably needed to start looking for a replacement.' 'I told him I want to help him,' Tillis added. 'I hope that we get a good candidate that I can help and we can have a successful 2026.'
