Senators from both parties grilled RFK Jr. on vaccines and more

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives to attest earlier nan Senate Finance Committee astatine nan Dirksen Senate Office Building connected September 4, 2025 successful Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In a contentious Senate proceeding marked by raised voices and heated exchanges, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced calls to resign from Democrats and unexpected disapproval from Republicans.

Several Republican senators brought up nan bequest of President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, which sent a safe COVID vaccine to nan nationalist successful grounds time, helping prevention millions of lives. They pushed Kennedy to explicate his existent attack to nan shots and mRNA technology.

Under his leadership, nan wellness agency cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars successful investigation backing connected mRNA exertion for early vaccines, and nan Food and Drug Administration constricted entree to nan COVID shots, saying only group astatine precocious consequence of complications from COVID aliases those complete 65.

"President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, whose ballot was captious successful Kennedy's confirmation. He demanded Kennedy explicate his changing stance connected COVID vaccines, and said: "effectively, we're denying group vaccine" — an assertion echoed by galore physicians' groups including nan American Association of Pediatrics and nan American Medical Association.

Cassidy had exacted assurances from Kennedy during his confirmation process successful February that he would not restrict Americans' entree to vaccines, a committedness nan legislator now accuses Kennedy of violating. Kennedy fired nan full 17-member Advisory Panel connected Immunization Practices astatine nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, replacing them pinch members Cassidy based on are mostly unscientific vaccine skeptics pinch vested financial interests successful suing vaccine makers.

Another Republican expert connected nan Senate Finance Committee, Dr. John Barrasso of Wyoming, joined Democrats successful criticizing Kennedy for undermining vaccines.

"In your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold nan highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I've grown profoundly concerned," Barrasso told Kennedy astatine nan hearing. "I've been proceeding from galore of my aesculapian colleagues, and location are existent concerns that safe, proven vaccines for illustration measles, for illustration hepatitis B and others, could beryllium successful jeopardy and that would put Americans astatine consequence and reverse decades of progress."

He expressed interest that Kennedy could politicize vaccines further and undermine nationalist health.

CDC activity alteration debated

Kennedy hotly defended his decisions and statements connected vaccines and connected changes astatine nan CDC, arguing nan agencies person historically relied connected bad data.

"These changes were perfectly basal adjustments to reconstruct nan agency to its domiciled arsenic nan world's golden modular nationalist wellness agency," he said. He claimed he had nan backing of "scientists and doctors are supporting maine each crossed nan country."

Senators besides many times asked Kennedy astir his determination to push retired recently confirmed CDC main Susan Monarez. Though she was his ain prime to lead nan agency, he said Monarez was lying erstwhile she claimed she was fired from that occupation aft only a period for insisting connected rigorous technological review.

In consequence to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kennedy said: "I told her she had to resign because I asked her, 'Are you a trustworthy person?' And she said, 'No.'"

Trump management friends for illustration Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin rushed to his defense, calling nan senators' pointed questions "abuse," and lauding Kennedy for his attempts to overhaul wellness agencies.

Vaccine entree arguments

Kennedy's seven-and-a-half period tenure arsenic Health Secretary is roiling nan fields of subject and health. His early sweeping changes included wide layoffs crossed nan national wellness and subject agencies, from nan FDA to nan CDC to nan National Institutes of Health.

Democratic senators took rumor pinch these and different changes, arsenic they and Kennedy accused each different of lying and manipulating information to service governmental ends.

The committee's ranking Democratic personnel Sen. Ron Wyden criticized Kennedy's attack to vaccines: "I deliberation Secretary Kennedy is dormant group connected making it harder for children to get vaccines and that kids are going to dice because of it," he said.

Sen. Warren challenged Kennedy to "honor your committedness that you made erstwhile you were looking to get confirmed" not to return distant vaccines from group who want them. She said his caller moves to alteration nan classification of nan COVID vaccine do conscionable that.

In response, Kennedy said "everybody tin get entree to them" for free, including those connected Medicare and Medicaid, though nan galore contradictory statements person near galore patients, doctors and insurers confused.

Kennedy said it was unclear nan COVID vaccine had saved millions of lives — a information constituent mostly accepted by scientists and doctors. But he besides seemed to backtrack connected assertions that he is "anti-vaccine," arguing that location stay immoderate chartless risks, moreover pinch long-approved vaccines.

"Saying I'm anti-vaccine is for illustration saying I'm anti-medicine," Kennedy said, arguing he conscionable wants much investigation to look into imaginable risks. "It doesn't mean that I'm, you know, anti-vax. It conscionable intends I'm pro-science."

His statement didn't look to sway nan Democratic senators successful attendance, pinch respective calling for Kennedy to resign passim nan hearing.