RFK Jr. stands by deep cuts to health budget during contentious hearings

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies earlier nan Senate HELP Committee Wednesday. He faced questions astir vaccines, bales and cuts to biomedical research. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that Elon Musk's DOGE effort drew up nan blueprint for spending cuts that are reshaping nan Department of Health and Human Services — and Kennedy and his squad implemented them. Kennedy besides said he pushed backmost connected immoderate cuts and has reinstated a fewer programs trim mistakenly.

Kennedy faced hours of questioning Wednesday successful 2 legislature committee hearings — 1 successful nan House Appropriations Committee and 1 successful nan Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee.

The charismatic taxable was President Trump's budget for fiscal twelvemonth 2026, but galore different issues came up including nan autism investigation Kennedy has launched, nan bales outbreak successful westbound Texas and nan monolithic overhaul of HHS, wherever 20,000 labor person been fired aliases taken a buyout aliases early retirement.

In general, Kennedy stood down nan immense sweeping changes to his agency — though he has backtracked somewhat connected a case-by-case basis. Otherwise, he is staying nan people pinch Trump's plans to trim billions much from nan HHS budget, which Kennedy acknowledged will beryllium "painful."

Congressional authority discussed

In an speech pinch Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., nan ranking personnel connected nan House Appropriations Committee, Kennedy said, "You person nan powerfulness of nan purse," referring to nan House of Representatives. DeLauro responded, "Thank you!" and went connected to opportunity that Kennedy and nan Trump management are illegally impounding costs appropriated by legislature this year. "You don't person nan authority," she said.

Questions from Republicans connected nan panels had a gentler tone, but moreover nan chair of nan Senate HELP committee Sen. Bill Cassidy, R.-La., urged Kennedy to activity pinch legislature more.

"The Department needs to person an effective scheme to fulfill statutory duties successful tandem pinch its efforts to summation transparency and accountability, streamline programs, and guidelines retired wasteful spending," Cassidy, who is besides a physician, said successful his opening statement. "Congress and nan management should activity together to guarantee reforms onslaught nan correct equilibrium and present for nan American people."

Protestors interrupted nan opening of nan Senate proceeding yelling, "RFK kills group pinch AIDS." They were quickly removed by constabulary officers and nan proceeding continued.

Fuzzy details

The comments astir Musk came successful an speech pinch Rep. Steny Hoyer, D.-Md., successful nan House hearing. "Who made those decisions? You aliases Musk?" Hoyer asked. Kennedy said that he worked pinch Musk's squad but had an expertise to override things. He mentioned preventing nan Head Start early acquisition programme from being cut, for example.

At times, Kennedy seemed fuzzy connected nan specifics of what really was trim arsenic lawmakers asked him astir specifications for illustration delays successful payments to organization groups and problems pinch objective trials. He said he would look into things and get backmost to lawmakers individually.

Senator Andy Kim, D-N.J., brought up nan World Trade Center wellness program, wherever unit person been reinstated. "But why were they trim successful nan first place?" Kim asked.

Kennedy said nan clip it would person taken to forestall mistakes for illustration this would person allowed inertia to group successful and nan agency would person remained excessively large and incapable to thief nan American organization to get healthier, which he says is his large goal.

Vaccines and an alligator metaphor

Vaccines came up astir pointedly erstwhile Sen. Chris Murphy, D.-Conn., questioned Kennedy. Murphy said Kennedy was undermining nationalist spot successful vaccines, by not powerfully saying they are safe. Kennedy responded: "Senator, if I counsel you to aquatics successful a reservoir that I cognize location to beryllium alligators in, wouldn't you want maine to show you location were alligators successful it?"

The Senate HELP Committee proceeding was marked by testy exchanges astatine times. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Cassidy, nan expert who chairs nan Senate HELP committee, returned to nan proceeding room to correct Kennedy. "The Secretary made nan connection that nary vaccines isolated from for COVID person been evaluated against placebo. For nan record, that's not true. The rotavirus, measles, and HPV vaccines person been, and immoderate vaccines are tested against erstwhile versions. So conscionable for nan record, to group that straight."

In an earlier speech pinch Rep. Mark Pocan, D.-Wisc., successful nan House hearing, Kennedy said he would "probably" vaccinate a mini kid against bales if he was nan genitor of a mini kid today. He didn't reply astir polio aliases chickenhearted pox vaccines. He added, "I don't deliberation group should beryllium taking aesculapian proposal from me."

Kennedy besides faced immoderate questioning from Republicans successful Oklahoma and Maine who were concerned astir cuts to biomedical investigation successful their districts.

DeLauro ended nan House proceeding noting that Republican members of legislature person been capable to activity pinch Kennedy's HHS to reinstate staffing of immoderate programs required by rule while Democrats' letters and different communications person not gotten responses. "Who do Democrats person to call?" she said, earlier pointedly asking for reinstatement of a programme for lead poisoning.