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RFK Jr. defends leadership as lawmakers investigate him over vaccines

2025-09-04 22:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Robert F Kennedy Jr defended his leadership of US health agencies in a heated hearing on Thursday, as lawmakers questioned him about his vaccination policies and other sweeping changes to the agencies.

During three hours of testimony, Democrats accused the US health secretary of lying and limiting Americans' access to vaccines, while several Republican senators also raised concerns.

The hearing comes a week after Kennedy fired the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a clash over his vaccination policies.

Since taking over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in February, Kennedy has made a series of changes that have alarmed health experts.

In June, he fired every member of an independent vaccine expert panel that makes recommendations on immunizations.

Public health experts raised concerns about the qualifications of the members - some of whom are vaccine critics - appointed in their place.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Susan Monarez, the former director of the CDC, said she was fired because she refused to endorse the panel's recommendations on the vaccine.

During Thursday's hearing, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, pushed Kennedy to continue her accusation.

The health secretary denied this, saying he had told Ms. Monarez to resign after asking her if she was a “trustworthy” person. He said she replied “no.”

The vaccine advisory panel was one of several changes to Kennedy's policies that lawmakers raised during the hearing, leading to a standoff.

As Senator Maggie Hassan accused the health secretary of restricting access to vaccines, Kennedy angrily responded: "He's just making things up."

"Sometimes when you make an accusation, it's like a confession, Mr. Kennedy," Hassan said.

Lawmakers repeatedly questioned Kennedy about his stance on the Covid-19 vaccine, including Senator Mark Warner, who asked the health leader how many lives vaccines had saved during the pandemic.

Kennedy said he didn't know because of the "data chaos" under the Biden administration.

"You've had this job for eight months and you don't know the data on whether vaccines have saved lives?" Warner asked.

Kennedy later said the vaccine saved "a lot" of lives.

Republicans struck a more measured tone with Kennedy, with some praising his leadership and others asking him to clarify what they described as contradictory remarks.

Senator Thom Tillis — who said before the hearing that he planned to ask Kennedy why his actions were not “consistent” with his promises — gave him a list of questions to answer at a later time.

The Republican lawmaker noted that Kennedy had accused several scientists of lying in his answers during the hearing.

"I would just like to see the scientific evidence for this," he said.

The toughest Republican question came from Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician who cast a key vote to confirm Kennedy only after he assured him that he would support certain American vaccination policies.

Cassidy pressed Kennedy on his stance on Covid-19 immunizations, accusing him of limiting access to vaccines due to conflicting recommendations from health agencies.

Under Kennedy's leadership, the US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a round of Covid booster vaccines for fewer groups - only for adults 65 and older and people with health problems.

"In effect, we are denying people vaccines," Cassidy said.

"You're wrong," Kennedy replied.

Kennedy's hearing comes a week after he fired 600 CDC employees, in addition to Ms. Monarez.

Just a few weeks ago, a gunman shot 500 times at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, killing a police officer. Investigators say the shooter blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for making him think about suicide.

Subsequently, hundreds of HHS officials wrote a letter to Kennedy, accusing him of fostering distrust in public health officials by spreading misinformation.

They cited his statements regarding vaccines, including the Covid-19 vaccine and measles immunization.

This year, the US has seen the worst measles outbreak in decades.

While Kennedy has supported the vaccine as the best way to prevent the spread of measles, he has also made false claims about the vaccine's safety and efficacy.