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Senators alarmed by chaos at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grilled Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over what some are calling his politicization of vaccine policy and his past promises not to interfere in scientific decisions.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, heard extensive criticism from Democratic lawmakers over his handling of the nation's health authorities. But several Republicans also hit the secretary's stance on the COVID-19 immunization – which scientists widely agree saved millions of Americans' lives.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, asked Kennedy about how he could believe President Donald Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for facilitiating the COVID-19 vaccine during his first term if Kennedy previously said the vaccine "killed more people" than the disease. Kennedy interrupted the Republican lawmaker to deny making the comment.
Another Republican, Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyoming, told the heir to the American political dynasty, "Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I've grown deeply concerned."
"The public has seen measles outbreaks, leadership in the National Institutes of Health questioning the use of mRNA vaccines, the recently confirmed Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fired," the senator added.
Half a dozen heated exchanges focused on Kennedy firing his hand-picked CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, with Trump's backing in a blowup that saw several top officials quit the agency. Kennedy maintained that her ouster was essential and accused her of lying about the reason she was dismissed.
"I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, 'Are you a trustworthy person?' And she said no," Kennedy said.
The Sept. 4 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee came as Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again commission delivered an action plan to the White House to combat chronic diseases in U.S. children. That plan has yet to be released to the public.
Catch up with USA TODAY's live coverage of Kennedy's testimony.
White House defends Kennedy after Senate hearing
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Kennedy after he faced tense questioning by both Democratic and Republican senators.
The Health secretary "is taking flak because he's over the target," she said on X several hours after the hearing concluded. “The Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science."
Although she blamed Democrats for attacking "that commonsense effort," Republican senators such as Cassidy and Barrasso had also expressed disapproval during the hearing with some of Kennedy's most recent actions concerning vaccines.
Does Trump deserve a Nobel prize for COVID vaccines?
A recurrent theme during the committee hearing is whether President Trump deserves a Nobel prize for Operation Warp Speed, a federal initiative in 2020 that expedited the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.
Some lawmakers who criticized Kennedy for cancelling $500 million in mRNA funding, the vaccine technology behind the leading COVID vaccines, also praised the Trump for Operation Warp Speed in an attempt to corner the Health secretary.
Cassidy and other committee Republicans said the president deserved the honor.
“Because of Operation Warp Speed forcing the federal government to come to a vaccine development within 10 months when others said it couldn’t be done, we saved millions of lives globally,” Cassidy said. “It surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney you attempted to restrict access (to COVID vaccines)… it seems inconsistent of you.”
Kennedy said he "absolutely" believed Trump deserves a Nobel prize.
-Adrianna Rodriguez
For Kennedy, a history of conspiracy and misinformation
Before President Trump nominated him as Health secretary, Kennedy was the founder of a nonprofit that experts say spread misinformation about vaccine safety. He has publicized debunked claims linking childhood vaccines to autism.
He has also promoted conspiracy theories that have been discredited: That Wi-Fi causes cancer, that fluoride in public water systems causes bone cancer and IQ loss, and suggesting that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” to attack “Caucasians and Black people” while sparing “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese” people.
Kennedy said during his Senate testimony on Sept. 4 that he agreed with Retsef Levi, a management and health analytics expert who is now serving on the CDC's vaccine panel, that mRNA vaccines were responsible for deaths in young children.
Senate Finance Committee’s chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, had divergent takes Kennedy's role as Health secetary.
“Under this administration, HHS has placed patients at the center of the healthcare system, empowering them with the tools and information they need to create a healthier future,” said Crapo.
Wyden said the U.S. is in a healthcare calamity, thanks to spending and staffing cuts to the HHS.
“I traveled across Oregon last month and the message was the same from one end of the state to the other. Families are confused,” said Wyden. “They're scared about who to trust of their healthcare.”
-Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Cassidy pushes RFK Jr. over COVID vaccine access
Cassidy didn't pull his punches when questioning Kennedy, a reversal of his initial support for the Health secretary.
Cassidy, a physician, questioned the Health secretary’s approval of Operation Warp Speed, a 2020 Trump administration initiative that expedited the research and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
“It surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney you attempted to restrict access” to vaccines, Cassidy said. “You’ve cancelled $500 million of contracts using the mRNA platform that was critical for Operation Warp Speed.”
“It seems inconsistent of you,” he added.
Cassidy also raised Kennedy's nomination of members to a federal vaccine panel who served as expert witnesses for plaintiffs suing vaccine companies, expressing concern that it may be a conflict of interest. Kennedy agreed that it may represent some bias.
Doctors and patients were confused and concerned that they wouldn’t be able to access to the COVID-19 vaccine, Cassidy told Kennedy.
The senator was a key vote during Kennedy’s confirmation in January. Kennedy's nomination advanced to the full Senate on a 14-13 vote in the Senate Finance Committee with Cassidy's support.
-Adrianna Rodriguez
Kennedy says former CDC boss lied about her firing
Susan Monarez, who was dismissed as head of CDC last week by Kennedy, said she was asked by Kennedy to “pre-approve the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric” in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 4.
“Did you in fact do what Director Monarez said you did”,” asked Sen. Wyden, D-Oregon.
“No, I did not,” said Kennedy.
“So she's lying today to the American people in the Wall Street Journal?,” asked Wyden.
“Yes, sir,” responded Kennedy.
-Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Kennedy says CDC shakeup was 'absolutely necessary'
The Health secretary said firing the CDC director, which led to the departure of several other officials, was “absolutely necessary.”
“These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency with a central mission of protecting Americans from infectious diseases,” he told senators.
Kennedy criticized former CDC officials for the agency's policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them “nonsensical” and claiming they “destroyed small businesses” and “violated civil liberties.”
“They did not do their job,” he said.
-Adrianna Rodriguez
RFK Jr. addresses CDC shooting in opening statement
Kennedy began his opening statements by offering condolences to the family of Officer David Rose, a DeKalb County, Georgia, police officer who was killed during a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control Prevention in Atlanta on Aug. 8.
The suspected shooter, who also died, may have been disgruntled over what he believed were vaccine side effects before opening fire on the CDC, according to multiple reports.
“Officer Rose was a veteran, a husband and a father of two children. Officer Rose’s widow, who I visited, is expecting their third child,” Kennedy told the committee. “I’d like Officer Rose’s family to know that he remains in our prayers and he will continue to be in our thoughts.”
-Adrianna Rodriguez
Wyden: Healthcare 'calamity' approaching like an 'avalanche' under Kennedy
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, in his opening remarks said the U.S. is in the middle of a “healthcare calamity” under Kennedy, with the largest cuts to American healthcare in the history of the country “approaching like an avalanche.”
Wyden mentioned a rural Oregon hospital that he said had closed is labor and delivery department due to federal cuts. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 10 million people will lose their health insurance under President Trump's signature tax and spending bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Most of the senior leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were fired, or they resigned after refusing to bow to Robert Kennedy's unceasing crusade against vaccines,” said Wyden.
-Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Democrats demand RFK Jr.'s ouster
Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee called for Kennedy's resignation in a statement released before the hearing.
“Robert Kennedy was unfit to serve as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services before he was on the job, which is why every Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee opposed his nomination,” they said in a statement. “The actions Robert Kennedy has taken since he was sworn in reinforce the danger he poses to the health of America."
Members joining the Sept. 4 statement included Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Michael Bennet, D-Colorado., Mark Warner, D-Virgina., Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada., Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts , Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, Raphael G. Warnock, D-Georgia and Peter Welch, D-Vermont.
On Sept. 3, more than 1,000 former and current Health and Human Service employees asked Kennedy to step down saying he was “endangering the lives of Americans.” The letter was sent following the dismissal of Susan Monarez, head of CDC and resignation of three high level others.
-Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Major shakeup at the CDC
The firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and abrupt departures of other CDC leaders have left the nation's premier public health agency in turmoil.
The White House fired Monarez on Wednesday, Aug. 27 after Kennedy sought her ouster. After Monarez's termination, resignation letters followed from CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry and top officials for immunization and contagious diseases.
The leadership shakeup represents an "extraordinary and systematic dismantling of the very top of our nation's public health system," said Richard Besser, a CDC director under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Besser disclosed that Monarez told him she was targeted after she refused to fire senior CDC leaders and rubber stamp recommendations by Kennedy's revamped vaccine advisory panel.
-Ken Alltucker
Sen. Bill Cassidy wants 'oversight' of CDC
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana responded with a social media post on Aug. 27 saying, “These high profile departures will require oversight” by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which he chairs.
In addition to calling for oversight after the CDC shakeup, Cassidy also said in a statement on Aug. 28 that the agency’s vaccine advisory panel should indefinitely postpone a Sept. 18 meeting.
“These decisions directly impact children’s health and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said “serious allegations” have been made about the panel’s “membership, and lack of scientific process being followed.”
“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership,” he added.
-Zac Anderson
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vaccine furor as angry senators hit RFK Jr. over CDC chaos: Hearing highlights
Reporting by Adrianna Rodriguez, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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