Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. sat before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Friday to discuss the department’s budget proposal. What was expected to be a straightforward session examining the administration’s proposed 12% cut to HHS spending instead devolved into a three-hour confrontation.
The hearing took an unexpected turn when a California representative directly questioned Kennedy about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.
Rep. Mark Takano challenged Kennedy by asking whether he would “insist that Trump undergo an assessment of his mental fitness and emotional stability.”
Kennedy responded with two words: “Absolutely not.” He later described President Trump as “very, very sane,” prompting a reaction from the committee.
The exchange continued as Democrats pressed Kennedy on vaccines and the ongoing measles outbreak. Rep. Linda Sanchez accused him of downplaying CDC vaccination messaging, noting recent measles outbreaks and two fatalities in Texas.
Kennedy acknowledged that the measles vaccine is “safe for most people” and admitted it could have saved lives in cases of two unvaccinated children who died from measles in Texas earlier this year. However, he defended unvaccinated communities, stating families were “treated as pariahs” for their choices.
When Rep. Lucy McBath questioned whether gun violence constitutes a public health crisis, Kennedy replied it is “an epidemic” and a “law enforcement issue,” not a public health concern.
Kennedy also revealed that more than 36,000 doctors had their Medicare reimbursements altered based on childhood vaccination rates, suggesting the system financially incentivizes vaccine promotion. He criticized a Danish study linking prenatal Tylenol use to autism as “garbage in, garbage out” and called for its retraction.
Kennedy became increasingly agitated by the committee’s questioning, stating they had “shut me up” by interrupting his answers.
The hearing occurred amid reports that President Trump plans to nominate Dr. Erica Schwartz, a pro-vaccine physician, as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
