Kennedy Defends Health Budget Cuts Amid Heated Congressional Scrutiny

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went before House lawmakers Thursday to defend a proposed $15.8 billion cut to the Health and Human Services budget, a reduction of about 12.5 percent, while Democrats used his first Capitol Hill appearance since September to press him on measles outbreaks, vaccine guidance and the consequences of his overhaul of federal health agencies.

Kennedy testified before the House Ways and Means Committee at the start of a weeklong run of seven hearings across Congress, a high-stakes stretch that will test whether his agenda can survive sustained scrutiny. He leaned on the administration’s push to rewrite dietary guidelines and crack down on waste, fraud and abuse, but he spent much of the hearing on the defensive as lawmakers questioned why the Trump administration is seeking deep cuts while also promising to improve public health.

Rep. Linda Sánchez of California opened one of the sharpest exchanges by confronting Kennedy over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s retreat from pro-vaccine public messaging. “As a mother, this horrifies me,” Sánchez said. “Did President Trump approve your decision to end CDC’s pro-vaccine public messaging campaign?” Kennedy declined to give a direct answer, saying first that he wanted to respond to the “misstatements that you've made,” then pivoting to praise the administration’s record on measles. The exchange underscored the central tension around Kennedy’s tenure: he is being asked to justify a health agenda that critics say is weakening the very messages public-health officials rely on during outbreaks.

Democrats also tied his policy choices to real-world harm. Rep. Mike Thompson said children had died because measles was spreading under Kennedy’s watch, and Sánchez pressed him on the death of an unvaccinated child in a Texas outbreak last year. Asked whether the measles vaccine could have saved that child’s life, Kennedy said, “It’s possible – certainly.” Lawmakers also criticized the CDC’s end to a public awareness campaign promoting flu vaccination, while the administration’s changes to childhood vaccine policy remain partly blocked by a federal judge.

Republicans were far more receptive, with Chairman Jason Smith opening the session by pointing to rising health care costs and a system he said rewards treatment over prevention. Smith praised the initial disbursement of a $50 billion rural health fund and said HHS had uncovered $3.5 billion in Medicare hospice fraud in Los Angeles County alone. Even so, members of both parties raised broader concerns about fraud and abuse, and some noted that Donald Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for at least three major health care fraud perpetrators. For Kennedy, the hearing was less a defense than a warning: Congress is still waiting for clear answers on which programs will be cut, which patients will absorb the loss, and how far his vaccine agenda can go before courts and lawmakers stop it.