‘We made a couple of mistakes': RFK Jr. faces bipartisan scrutiny in first Senate hearing as health secretary
'I don't know enough about that program,' replied Kennedy. But, he suggested, it might have been folded into another office during the sweeping reorganization project he has executed. Kennedy couldn't talk about that reorganization, he said, due to an ongoing legal challenge, and promised to work with Collins on her 'line item.'
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Similar inconclusive exchanges played out when senators of both parties asked Kennedy about spending and staff cuts to other initiatives, including lead poisoning prevention efforts, a well-known program to prevent infant sleep deaths, heating assistance to the poor, the agency that oversees workplace safety, and clinical cancer trials at the National Institutes of Health.
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Over and over Kennedy replied he wasn't aware of the specifics of the massive changes under his watch. At other moments, he downplayed some concerns, or outright insisted certain things didn't happen — such as claiming that 'no working scientist' in the federal government had been fired by the Trump administration. (Many scientists have testified they have been fired.)
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Only a few times did Kennedy acknowledge the fallout, as when Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat,
'We made a couple of mistakes,' Kennedy said, 'and that was one.'
Though Kennedy was
Kennedy has dutifully taken up President Trump and Elon Musk's unprecedented government-slashing effort to upend a federal health system he has long antagonized as misguided and ineffective.
The result has been the
The Senate health committee had first
invited Kennedy to testify on April 10, but he declined. So when he did appear in that committee's chamber on Wednesday, and before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations panel earlier in the day, the urgency was palpable from members — and not just among Democrats.
Senator Bill Cassidy,
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When Cassidy asked Kennedy how he intended for federal health agencies to do more with less while competing with rivals such as China, the secretary replied, 'The Chinese are not spending a lot of money on DEI.'
After Collins pressed Kennedy on the Alzheimer's program, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska conveyed her concern about cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps low-income people pay to heat and cool their homes — a critical resource in Murkowski's frigid home state.
The pressure on one of the most controversial aspects of Kennedy's tenure — vaccines — came almost exclusively from Democrats. Long known for raising fears about vaccines and linking them to conditions such as autism, Kennedy promised senators he would do nothing as secretary to limit public access to vaccines or interfere with congressionally appropriated funding for vaccine programs.
But he has sent mixed signals so far amid the most serious measles outbreak the country has seen in years, currently unfolding in Texas. Kennedy has recommended vaccination as the best protection against measles, but he has also downplayed the effectiveness of the vaccine, claimed it causes deaths, and suggested that getting measles itself would provide better immunity.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, tried to underscore the confusion Kennedy's remarks have generated. 'I want you to acknowledge when you say you support the measles vaccines and go out and undermine the vaccine. . . . That is not supporting the vaccine,' he said.
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Noting the promises Kennedy made to senators during the confirmation process, Murphy said, 'If I were the chairman, and believed what you said about supporting vaccines, my head would be exploding.'
Kennedy grew frustrated with Murphy, interrupting him to ask him to repeat claims and, at one point, scoffing, 'You don't know what you're talking about.'
Cassidy was absent for the exchange, and he did not interject to counter Kennedy's claims on vaccines, except once, to correct a statement by Kennedy about the thoroughness of vaccine testing.
While Kennedy skeptics may have been eager for a chance to question him, some were disappointed by the results of a hearing that saw contentious and sometimes personal exchanges between the secretary and lawmakers.
Before Kennedy's appearance, Senator Ed Markey, of Malden, printed red booklets filled with constituent fears and anxieties over Kennedy's leadership, dubbing it the 'Make America Sick Again' agenda. 'He keeps denying the reality of the harm which has already been caused by the cuts, which he and Donald Trump support,' Markey told the Globe during a break in the hearing.
Though he downplayed some staff and spending cuts — and came close to apologizing for others — Kennedy ultimately validated the mission that Trump and Musk say they are trying to accomplish by slashing the size of government.
Federal budget deficits, Kennedy said, would threaten the country's ability to improve the health care system going forward.
'We intend to do a lot more,' he said, 'with a lot less.'
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Sam Brodey can be reached at
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Story Highlights Missouri Senate debates bills for stadium funding and disaster relief. Proposed stadium bill would divert $1.5 billion over 30 years. Disaster relief funding criticized as insufficient for affected areas. The first two days of the special legislative session called by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe to allocate state money for Kansas City sports stadiums, disaster recovery and unfinished spending bills have gone as well as could be expected. The Missouri Senate is poised for Wednesday debates on all the legislation Kehoe wants passed. And that's when the legislation will move from friendly committees to a chamber compromised by clear Republican factional lines and simmering Democratic anger. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events Some of the potential problems could be solved by which bills go first. The simplest bill would alter the rules governing the Missouri Housing Trust Fund so it could use $25 million included in an appropriations bill to fund home repairs and other assistance in areas hit by natural disasters this year. The biggest gripes about that plan is that the money is too little and spread too thin — federal disaster declarations have been sought for 37 counties so far this year — to do a lot of good. The biggest disaster of the year, and one that has yet to receive a presidential directive allowing federal aid, is a May 16 tornado that carved a 22-mile path across the St. Louis region, damaging or destroying 16,000 structures including hundreds of old brick homes in North St. Louis. People are sleeping in cars to protect their damaged property while they work to rebuild and wait for help, said state Sen. Brian Wililams, a University City Democrat. 'I'm having a severe challenge with even entertaining this, because I don't know how anyone would be able to go back home and look at their neighbors,' Williams said. The bill with the biggest obstacles would use tax money collected from the economic activity at Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to finance renovated or new stadiums. The bill is estimated to divert almost $1.5 billion from state revenues over 30 years. State Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican and a former NFL player, is sponsoring the bill. The damage it will do to Missouri's national image to lose one or both teams, especially the Chiefs, is as important as the transfer of the economic value to Kansas, Gregory said during a hearing of the Senate Fiscal Review Committee. Kansas is offering to pay 70% of the cost for new stadiums, an offer that is 'very viable,' Gregory said, and must be answered by the end of the month. 'I firmly believe these are Missouri's teams, and if Missouri doesn't have an offer on the table for the teams to even consider, that will speak for itself and how we view then what they bring to our state and our economy,' Gregory said. Lobbyists for the teams would not commit to staying in Missouri if the legislation is passed. That, said state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, is hard to take for residents of eastern Missouri who remember that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt supported moving the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles. 'There was a real begrudgement about whether we were going to root for the Chiefs after the ownership team voted to remove the Rams from this from our side of the state,' said Coleman, a Republican from Arnold. Along with the stadium financing, Gregory's bill includes expanded tax credits for major amateur sporting events and a tax credit of up $5,000 for insurance deductibles paid as a result of disaster damage. The bill where Kehoe's plan could make its biggest political gains is the spending bill. It is mirrored on a construction spending package that the Missouri House refused to consider for a final vote during the regular session. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved two versions Tuesday. One, based on Kehoe's requests, has all the non-general revenue items but only $50 million of the more than $300 million in general revenue spending. Kehoe said he left out the general revenue items because he is concerned about the trend of little growth in state revenues. He cut in half a line item to support a new research reactor at the University of Missouri, leaving $25 million and using the other half for the disaster relief funding. Some lawmakers have called the cut a broken promise to the university. University President Mun Choi, who attended the hearing on the spending bill, said he is happy with the $25 million and the remaining funds will be welcome next year as the multi-year project progresses. 'I am not upset at all,' Choi said. 'I am grateful that the governor and the legislature are considering supporting this very important project here today. There are many other competing interests, especially with the disaster relief in St. Louis, and I really feel for the St. Louisians that are affected.' The other version of the bill is exactly the same as the bill the House spiked. It includes more than 60 projects added by lawmakers, with money to rebuild a sheltered workshop that burned in December and provided needed upgrades at eight hospitals around the state. While many members worried about disaster recovery or the earmarked projects have said they are ready to consider the stadium legislation after those bills are finished, the members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus who have signaled they oppose stadium funding are against it as a government subsidy to wealthy owners. During testimony against the bill, Patrick Tuohey, a senior fellow at the Show Me Institute, summed up why conservatives oppose the bill. 'What's happening here is that the teams want to use Kansas, and want to use fear of losing the teams, to vacuum up as much state subsidies as they can,' said Touhey, who wrote an op-ed about the issue published by The Independent earlier this week. 'And then they are going to come to Jackson County and Clay County and do exactly the same thing, pit them against each other, and try to vacuum up as much public subsidies from taxpayers as possible,' This report originally appeared on Missouri Independent and is republished here under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
