In his first appearance on Capitol Hill this year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his record in running the Department of Health and Human Services.
On Thursday, Kennedy testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, playing up his agency's accomplishments on a range of issues — from drug price negotiations to the new dietary guidelines — and did his best to sidestep criticism of his controversial actions on vaccines.
"We're ending the era of federal policies that fueled the chronic disease epidemic and replacing them with policies that put the health of Americans first," Kennedy declared in his opening remarks to the committee.
Democrats took the opportunity to grill Kennedy on many issues, including on the upsurge in vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, and attempts to weaken the childhood vaccine schedule (currently blocked by the courts). They also questioned him on proposed cuts to his agency's budget.
The Trump administration hopes to decrease the HHS' budget in the coming fiscal year by close to $16 billion, which would amount to a 12.5% cut from last year.
Heated exchanges on vaccine messaging
While it wasn't quite as contentious as his appearance before a Senate committee last year, the hearing was marked by some heated moments.
In one tense exchange, Rep. Linda Sánchez, a Democrat from California, pressed Kennedy on the death of an unvaccinated child from measles during an outbreak in Texas last year. When she asked whether the measles vaccine could have saved the child's life, Kennedy replied: "It's possible — certainly."
Sánchez went on to press Kennedy about his priorities, including the CDC's decision to end a public awareness campaign to promote the flu vaccine. NPR first reported on that decision in February 2025.
"You suspended this pro-vaccine messaging campaign, but somehow you're spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk, shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock?" Sánchez quipped, citing a recent, eyebrow-raising promotional video released by HHS that depicts the two men working out.
Last year, the U.S recorded more than 2,200 measles cases and could easily surpass that this year, with more than 1,700 infections recorded so far.
"Kids have died because measles is running rampant under your watch," said Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat from California, as he recalled being a school-aged child when polio was still a threat.
In another back and forth with Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York, Kennedy accused the Democrats of being the "ones that gave us the chronic disease epidemic."
Questioning budget cuts
Meanwhile, he received a mostly warm reception from Republicans on the committee who discussed fraud at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, rural health care and other issues in their districts.
"Great things are happening. You've elevated the talk about let's get healthy," said Rep. Aaron Bean, a Republican from Florida, praising Kennedy's efforts to get companies to voluntarily phase out food dyes and incorporate more nutrition education into medical school education.
On the proposed budget, Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Wisconsin, asked about the sizable proposed cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, and how that conflicted with Kennedy's goals to reduce rates of chronic disease in children.
Kennedy said "he was not happy" with the cuts.
Rep. Bradley Scott Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois, flagged the proposed $5.7 billion in cuts to National Institutes of Health funding for research.
He noted a Congressional Budget Office report saying that cutting the agency's budget would lead to the development of fewer drugs, "drugs that save lives."
"You're diminishing science," Schneider said.
In a rare move among Republicans on the committee, Rep. Blake Moore of Utah offered light criticism of Kennedy, citing his pledge to discover the cause of the "autism epidemic." President Trump and Kennedy have blamed the use of Tylenol during pregnancy for the condition, a contention that researchers in the field have roundly rejected.
"I was underwhelmed with what we [the Administration] ultimately put out," said Moore, who shared that his son is neurodivergent on the autism spectrum. "My wife was hurt and she felt for a split second until she came to her senses … that there was any way she was responsible."
Will "AHA" finally happen?
Since taking on the job, Kennedy has pushed the idea of creating a new agency — the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA — by reorganizing and consolidating the Department of Health and Human Services.
"We're going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions," he said in a social media video last March.
Many staff and departments of HHS were eliminated in chaotic cuts handed down last year. But AHA still does not exist, having failed to get funded in last fall's HHS funding bill.
This latest Trump administration budget proposal calls for establishing AHA.
Kennedy also appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on Thursday afternoon. There he faced questions from Democrats about staffing levels at HHS, funding flowing to HHS agencies and Trump administration actions on mercury pollution and the herbicide glyphosate. Republicans questioned him on abortion policy and praised his efforts to shake up the agency.
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