US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a sharp critique of the country’s health during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, calling America “the sickest country in the world.”
Kennedy used the hearing to defend his extensive overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has faced upheaval following the dismissal of Director Susan Monarez and the disbanding of key advisory boards.
“If we don’t end this chronic disease, we are the sickest country in the world,” he said.
He argued that the agency’s shortcomings, exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, justified decisive action. In a heated exchange with Democratic Senator Mark Warner regarding COVID-19 deaths in the US, Kennedy claimed the exact numbers are unknown due to insufficient government data.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized Kennedy for claiming that numerous health organizations defending the Covid-19 vaccine had been influenced by the drug industry.
“Is everybody corrupt but you?” Sanders asked. “To suggest that every institution–the [American Medical Association], the pediatrics people–is corrupt because they disagree with you is an insult to the American people.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, reproached Kennedy for not supporting the COVID-19 vaccine through his organization, the Children’s Health Defense.
Cassidy noted at the start of his questioning that Trump deserved the Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, which developed the COVID-19 vaccine.
Cassidy, a physician before becoming a senator, also cited an email from another doctor highlighting confusion among medical professionals about who was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I would say, effectively, we're denying people a vaccine,” Cassidy said, to which Kennedy responded, “You’re wrong.”
This comes as the Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of COVID-19 vaccines for people aged 65 and older, as well as for younger individuals with underlying conditions that increase their risk, causing confusion among pharmacies about eligibility.
Firings in CDC
Kennedy Jr. faced criticism from both Democratic and some Republican senators over the recent wave of firings and resignations at the CDC and his vaccine-related decisions. Over 1,000 current and former Health and Human Services staff have signed letters calling for his resignation, warning that his actions politicize science and erode public trust.
“That’s why we have to fire people at CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy.”
Last week, the Trump administration fired CDC head Susan Monarez, whom President Donald Trump had nominated to lead the agency. That triggered a resignation from other top officials at the center.
During the hearing, Democrats again attacked RFK Jr and the Republicans who confirmed him over his vaccine stances and policies that many scientists have warned about.
“Republicans on the committee had a chance to prevent the public health train wreck that Mr. Kennedy has engineered,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said during the hearing.
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