Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing

After a week of fast-moving shakeups astatine the nation's wellness agency, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testified earlier the almighty Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight implicit his department, connected Thursday.

The proceeding has ended aft astir 3 hours.

At times contentious, Kennedy was grilled connected everything from vaccine availability to his staffing shakeups astatine the CDC.

Several Republicans connected the sheet expressed interest connected vaccines, portion Democrats accused Kennedy of breaking pledges helium made during his confirmation proceeding backmost successful January.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears earlier the Senate Finance Committee connected Capitol Hill successful Washington, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

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It comes a week aft the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) importantly narrowed entree to the COVID-19 vaccine, a determination that precipitated a public fallout and ousting of the recently installed manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Susan Monarez. Four apical CDC officials besides resigned successful protest.

The caller FDA support for COVID shots allows for radical who are aged 65 and older to get the vaccine, oregon younger Americans who person an underlying information that puts them astatine a higher hazard of terrible unwellness from the virus.

Public wellness officials and pharmacist groups person said the alteration volition marque it harder for young and steadfast radical to get the vaccine -- should they inactive take to -- and raises questions astir wherever they tin get it oregon whether security volition screen it.

Thursday volition beryllium the archetypal clip Kennedy has faced questions from senators since May, erstwhile helium testified earlier a Senate committee and a House committee, defending the monolithic cuts to the department's workforce carried retired successful April.

Kennedy is expected to tout the overhauls astatine HHS truthful far, which helium has said are aimed astatine eliminating bloated bureaucracy and conflicts of involvement astatine nationalist wellness agencies that get successful the mode of "gold-standard science."

In a statement, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said Kennedy volition usage the proceeding to "reaffirm his committedness to Make America Healthy Again: restoring gold-standard subject astatine HHS, empowering patients with much transparency, choices and entree to care, and reestablishing spot successful nationalist health."

While Republicans similar Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo volition effort to support the absorption connected chronic illness and Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, Democrats and adjacent immoderate Republicans are expected to propulsion Kennedy for answers connected the FDA's latest alteration arsenic good arsenic an upcoming CDC gathering connected vaccines, which could pb to much changes to the nation's vaccine policy.

The CDC's Advisory Committee connected Immunization Practices (ACIP), which discusses vaccine information and makes recommendations for which vaccines Americans should get and when, is going to measurement successful connected the FDA's latest change, further informing security companies and pharmacies of however to transportation retired the policy.

But ACIP is besides going to sermon a slate of antithetic vaccines, including the COVID vaccine; hepatitis B vaccines; the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine; and the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine.

In June, Kennedy replaced each 17 sitting members of the committee with his ain hand-selected members, including immoderate who person expressed vaccine-skeptic views fervently sought to discredit the information and efficacy of mRNA COVID vaccines.

Speaking to reporters connected Tuesday, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who sits connected the Senate Finance Committee, said helium had spoken to different members of his caucus who agreed that they needed to analyse what imaginable changes Kennedy and the CDC committee were weighing to the puerility vaccine recommendations.

"The contented is astir children's health, and determination are rumors, allegations, that children's health, which is astatine contented here, mightiness beryllium endangered by immoderate of the decisions that are purported to beryllium made. I don't cognize what's true," Cassidy said. "I cognize that we request to get there. And I've talked to members of my Republican Caucus, respective of them. They've agreed with maine that we request to get astatine it."

Cassidy, who pushed Kennedy during his confirmation hearings to contented enactment for vaccines and publically struggled implicit his ballot for him, has tasked the committee helium chairs, the Senate Committee connected Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), to bash "oversight" of Monarez' ousting, helium wrote connected X past week.

Cassidy maintained that helium isn't "presupposing idiosyncratic is close oregon wrong." "I conscionable cognize we've got to fig it out," Cassidy said.

Cassidy has besides called for the CDC gathering to beryllium postponed until "significant oversight has been conducted," citing "serious allegations" astir the "meeting agenda, rank and deficiency of technological process."

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is connected the HELP committee with Cassidy, told reporters connected Wednesday that she is "concerned" and "alarmed" by Monarez's firing.

"I cognize that the president has the close to occurrence whomever helium wishes erstwhile it comes to that benignant of appointment, but I don't spot immoderate justification for it," Collins said.

Monarez, who was successful the occupation for lone a month, was pushed retired aft she declined to occurrence apical officials and enactment Kennedy's vaccine argumentation changes successful a gathering with the caput aboriginal past week, a root acquainted with her conversations with the caput told ABC News.

"When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and occurrence dedicated wellness experts, she chose protecting the nationalist implicit serving a governmental agenda. For that, she has been targeted," Monarez's attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said successful a connection precocious past week.

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt told reporters President Donald Trump had fired Monarez due to the fact that she "was not aligned with the president's ngo to marque America steadfast again."

"It was President Trump who was overwhelmingly reelected connected November 5," Leavitt said. "This pistillate has ne'er received a ballot successful her life, and the president has the authorization to occurrence those who are not aligned with his mission."

Other CDC officials who followed Monarez retired the doorway included:

- Deb Houry, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science
- Dr. Dan Jernigan, Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
- Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
- Dr. Jennifer Layden, Director for the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.
- The officials cited the governmental clime and a refusal to judge subject that didn't align with Kennedy's beliefs.

Daskalakis, successful an interrogation connected ABC News' "This Week", said helium thought the changes Kennedy has truthful acold made are "the extremity of the iceberg."

In summation to the caller FDA changes for the COVID vaccine, Kennedy has besides canceled up to $500 cardinal successful probe and improvement for mRNA vaccines and changed the COVID vaccine recommendations for children and large women.

"I mean, from my vantage constituent arsenic a doc who's taken the Hippocratic oath, I lone spot harm coming. I whitethorn beryllium wrong. But based connected what I'm seeing, based connected what I've heard with the caller members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, oregon ACIP, they're truly moving successful an ideological absorption wherever they privation to spot the undoing of vaccination," Daskalakis said.

Kennedy, erstwhile helium testified successful his confirmation hearings to beryllium wellness caput successful January, denied that helium was anti-vaccine and said helium supports "the puerility schedule" for vaccinations.

"I americium pro-vaccine. I americium going to enactment the vaccine program. I privation kids to beryllium healthy, and I'm coming successful present to get escaped of the conflicts of involvement wrong the agency, marque definite that we person golden standard, evidence-based science," Kennedy said.

When pressed by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Kennedy committed to supporting the measles and polio vaccines.

"Senator, I enactment the measles vaccine, I enactment the polio vaccine. I volition bash thing arsenic HHS caput that makes it hard oregon discourages radical from taking either of those vaccines," Kennedy said.