WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. headed Wednesday to Capitol Hill, where he faced intense questioning from Democratic lawmakers as well as protesters who interrupted one of his opening statements.
Kennedy testified before the House Appropriations Committee in the morning ahead of his afternoon appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where the protesters who shouted about AIDS and the war in the Gaza Strip were removed by Capitol Police.
The hearings marked Kennedy's first time before Congress since he was sworn in three months ago.
During the morning session, Kennedy got into a back-and-forth with Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., about how President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal would impact people on Medicaid.
“About half of my district is on Medicaid, and the recent budget that is being discussed in the House right now would leave 50,000 people in my community without health insurance,” Harder said. “Do you disagree with the cuts that are being proposed for Medicaid right now?”
Kennedy claimed that the only cuts being made to Medicaid constituted “waste, fraud and abuse” discovered by the U.S. DOGE Service and asked if Harder was “mouthing” Democratic talking points.
Kennedy’s comments were later echoed by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who is a physician.
“Mr. Secretary, you are absolutely right," Harris said. "No pregnant woman or single mom who qualifies under Medicaid, Medicare is going to lose anything. This talking point is ridiculous.”
Elected officials also asked the Health Secretary to provide more specifics about how his department would be reorganized, but he said he was unable to go into detail, citing a temporary restraining order issued last week.
“We are under a court order not to do any further planning on the reorganization, and I've been advised by my attorneys not to talk about it,” Kennedy said when asked about reported cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.
Kennedy said that about 10,000 employees had opted to take the “fork in the road” offer to resign and another 10,000 are currently on administrative leave.
He also confirmed that some programs — including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — would be shifted to the newly created Administration for a Healthy America.
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., noting her own son’s battle with substance abuse, asked why the department was making changes to SAMHSA, after CDC data released Wednesday showed a 27% decline in overdose deaths in 2024 compared to the prior year.
“It’s shifting to a subdivision where we can operate it more efficiently,” Kennedy said.
Dean responded: “Mr. Secretary, please I beg of you. Talk to these families. You know these families. You are these families. Help us save more lives. Don’t shift it and shaft it.”
In another exchange, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., asked if the health secretary would vaccinate his children for measles, chickenpox and polio if he had young kids today.
“For measles? Probably for measles,” Kennedy began, and then continued, “What I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant.”
The health secretary cited the European Union, where vaccinations against chickenpox are not mandatory in all countries, and did not answer if he would have chosen to inoculate his children against either chickenpox or polio.
“I’m really horrified that you will not encourage families to vaccinate their children,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said, citing the deaths of two children in the U.S. from measles this year.
Democrats, including DeLauro, also repeatedly pressed Kennedy about his view on Congress’ power of the purse.
“Are you freezing or withholding funding that Congress appropriated in 2025 for life-saving NIH research?” she asked.
The health secretary said he would spend any appropriated funds, but added, “The White House proposal is to do very, very large cuts at NIH.”
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, a former dentist, questioned Kennedy about efforts to phase out supplements that contain fluoride as well as actions taken by some states to remove fluoride in public water systems.
“If you are successful in banning fluoride … we better put a lot more money into dental education because we are going to need a whole lot more dentists,” Simpson said.
Kennedy, in response, cited concern by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary about a possible correlation between exposure to fluoride and low IQs in children. However, critics have said the study looked at countries where children consume higher quantities of fluoride than in the U.S.
