RFK Jr. Hits the Hill

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before seven congressional committees in recent days, taking questions—and criticism—from dozens of lawmakers.

Here are key takeaways from the sessions.

Budget Cuts Are Necessary

The White House has proposed a 12.5 percent cut to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget, along with cuts to other agencies.

“All of those cuts are painful,” Kennedy said. However, he said they are necessary because of the growing national debt.

Mass terminations in 2025 brought HHS from about 82,000 employees down to around 62,000. Kennedy said there are now 72,000 employees and that the agency plans to hire about 12,000 more people.

Kennedy said the terminations did not result in any issues and that they were warranted, citing the high rates of chronic disease in the population and the prevalence of unhealthy food in Americans’ diets.

“It was their job to protect us, and they did not do it. They failed at their job,” Kennedy said. “If this was private industry, they would have all been fired. We did what we had to do to change the culture at these agencies.”

Will Medicaid Be Cut?

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in 2025, included tightening requirements for Medicaid, which provides health insurance to 83 million low-income people in the United States, according to health policy organization KFF.

As a result of the act, “the Republicans are going to cut Medicaid by $1 trillion over the next decade,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said.

Other Democrats also decried the cuts.

Kennedy, though, said spending on Medicaid will continue growing in the coming years.

“We’re not cutting Medicaid,” he said.

He pointed to a recent Congressional Budget Office report that concluded the government spent $668 billion on Medicaid in 2025, and will spend more each year through 2036, when it will spend $981 billion.

Vaccines Not Mentioned

Kennedy, in prepared remarks, did not touch on vaccines—a topic on which he regularly spoke before entering office and in 2025 after becoming health secretary.

“I’m curious as to why such a vocal vaccine skeptic has all of a sudden gone silent on these issues,” Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) said.

Veasey asked whether any White House officials had instructed or suggested that Kennedy stop talking about vaccines ahead of the midterm elections. Kennedy said ‘no.’

Across the hearings, Kennedy answered questions on vaccines from various members, some of whom said that changes to vaccine recommendations and Kennedy’s comments on vaccines have resulted in lower vaccination rates and measles outbreaks.

“Secretary Kennedy is creating chaos and confusion in our nation’s health policy,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said.

Kennedy said government actions during the COVID-19 pandemic caused distrust in vaccines, and that the measles outbreaks have happened among communities that largely chose not to receive vaccines well before he entered office.

“The vaccination levels dropped during COVID because people stopped trusting the American government,” Kennedy said. “I am here to restore that trust.”

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—Zachary Stieber

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