RFK Jr. grilled on measles surge, vaccine policy at House hearing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returned to Capitol Hill under mounting pressure to explain a measles surge that has spread across the country, but his first congressional appearance in more than seven months offered little sign of a detailed outbreak response. At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, lawmakers pressed the health and human services secretary on the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 budget, vaccine policy and the rise in measles cases, while Kennedy’s opening remarks focused instead on nutrition and food safety.

That contrast defined the hearing’s central accountability gap. Democrats challenged Kennedy on whether the administration was doing enough to contain measles through vaccination guidance, surveillance, public health coordination and funding for prevention campaigns. Rep. Linda Sánchez confronted him over the increase in cases and cuts to pro-vaccination public health messaging, and other Democrats accused him of undermining confidence in vaccines while leading the nation’s top health agency.

The pressure was rooted in worsening numbers. CDC data updated April 10 showed 1,714 confirmed measles cases in the United States across 33 states, with 17 new outbreaks in 2026. A separate report cited 1,741 cases as of April 9. Utah’s outbreak had reached 583 cases by April 7, underscoring how quickly the virus was moving through under-vaccinated communities.

Texas offered a reminder of what measles can look like when it gains a foothold. State health officials said 2025 produced the largest number of confirmed measles cases in Texas since 1992, when the state recorded 990 cases in one outbreak and 1,097 cases over the full year. Texas health officials also note that before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, the United States reported about 500,000 measles cases and 500 deaths each year, with actual infections estimated at 3 million to 4 million annually.

Kennedy has increasingly shifted his public message toward food policy and away from vaccines, a recalibration that fits the White House’s effort to avoid his most controversial positions ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. But the outbreak numbers have kept the debate centered on measles rather than rhetoric. With cases climbing and outbreaks multiplying, lawmakers wanted specifics. The question left hanging over the hearing was whether Kennedy would deliver them.