RFK Jr. mentions DeKalb Officer David Rose, criticizes CDC during testimony

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies about CDC, vaccines

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified in front of Congress on Thursday about the CDC and vaccines. He talked bout Office David Rose and the attack on the CDC in Atlanta.

WASHINTON, D.C. - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sharply criticized the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during testimony before the Senate on Thursday, while also pausing to honor a fallen Georgia officer.

What we know:

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered his opening statement Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee, defending sweeping changes to federal health policy and addressing his decision to overhaul leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kennedy also paid tribute to DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, who was killed while stopping last month’s shooting at the CDC headquarters. "So I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose," Kennedy said. "I’d like Officer Rose’s family to know that he remains in our prayers, and that he will continue to be in our thoughts."

What they're saying:

From there, Kennedy laid out what he described as "a once-in-a-generation shift from a sick care system to a true health care system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease." He pointed to the administration’s MAHA report, released in May, which highlighted the role of ultra-processed foods, chemical exposures, physical inactivity, and over-medicalization in rising rates of childhood illness.

Kennedy touted efforts at HHS ranging from addressing contaminated baby formula and electronic cigarette use to reducing drug prices and cutting red tape around prior authorizations. He also said the agency is working to limit excessive screen time for youth, expand nutrition education in medical schools, and increase drug approvals at the FDA.

He emphasized that HHS has eliminated "duplicative enrollments" to save taxpayers $14 billion annually while redirecting resources to low-income and vulnerable families. Kennedy said the department is investing $1 billion into Head Start programs and is committed to tackling human trafficking, particularly among children.

On tribal health, Kennedy said he has met with leaders across Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, and New Mexico to expand federal support for Native American communities. He also highlighted a new rural health transformation initiative, calling it the largest federal investment in rural health care in U.S. history.

Senators pressed Kennedy on his leadership of HHS, including his recent overhaul of vaccine policy and his decision to oust the CDC director last week.

Kennedy said his plan focuses on tackling the root causes of chronic disease, but lawmakers and health experts raised alarms about some of his recent decisions. Among them: cutting funding for mRNA vaccine research, revising COVID-19 vaccine guidance for children and pregnant women, and overseeing the firing of the CDC’s director. Kennedy also replaced every member of a key vaccine advisory panel, moves he defended as necessary to hold the agency accountable.

"CDC failed that responsibility miserably during COVID, when its disastrous and nonsensical policies destroyed small businesses, violated schools, caused generational damage in doing so," Kennedy told lawmakers.

Supporters, including President Donald Trump and his allies, praised Kennedy’s leadership, but opposition has been mounting. More than 1,000 current and former HHS employees, along with many Democratic lawmakers, have publicly called for him to resign, arguing his policies endanger public health.

The other side:

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is one of those lawmakers calling on Kennedy to step down.

"The destruction of the CDC in Georgia, the systematic dismantling of American public health is putting children and families across the country at risk every single day. This is chaos. It is out of control. And every day this continues, more and more Americans are put at risk by Mr. Kennedy's radical and incoherent ideology," Sen. Ossoff said.

"I defend the CDC not just because those who work there are my constituents, but because it is the most important disease-fighting agency not just in the country but in the world, with unmatched capabilities and responsibility. And the CDC has been systematically demolished since Mr. Kennedy was sworn in," Sen. Ossoff continued. "Agency morale is at rock bottom. A quarter of the workforce has been pushed out. It is an agency known for its tenacity and precision and capacity that is now totally in chaos by design. And every day this continues, the damage is compounded. It is time for Mr. Kennedy to resign."

Sen. Raphael Warnock joined Ossoff in demanding Kennedy's resignation. Warnock told Kennedy during the hearing, "You are a hazard to the health of the American people. I think that you ought to resign. And if you do not resign, the President of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should fire you."

"Despite your lack of credentials and expertise, clearly, you have an agenda. It is a threat to the public health of the American people. It's clear that you are carrying out your extremist beliefs," Sen. Warnock also said

Kennedy dismissed the criticism, claiming scientists and doctors across the country back his agenda. His newly appointed vaccine advisory panel is scheduled to meet later this month to consider updates to RSV and measles vaccines.

Dig deeper:

Here are some of the exchanges during Thursday's testimony:

Exchange With Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Fired CDC Director

Sen. Warren: "Head of the CDC that if she refused to sign off on your changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, that she had to resign."

RFK Jr.: "No. I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, are you a trustworthy person? And she said, no. What if you had an employee who told you they weren't trustworthy? Would you ask them to resign? Senator?"

Sen. Warren: "So I'm sorry, but this is not what she has said publicly. She has said."

RFK Jr.: "I'm not surprised about that."

Sen. Warren: "So you're saying she's lying?"

RFK Jr.: "Yes. Every conversation I had with her gets this straight."

Sen. Warren: "This is the same person that less than a month earlier, you stood next tour and described her as unimpeachable and you had full confidence in her and that you had full confidence in her scientific credentials. And in a month, she became a liar. Yeah."

RFK Jr.: "You should ask her what change? And by the way, a month ago you were voting against her. Oh, because you thought she was either incompetent in eligible or unsuited to the task. I'm sorry."

Sen. Warren: "I was afraid she was going to bend the knee to you and Donald Trump. And it looks like she didn't bend the knee. So you fired. Look, you are putting America's baby's health at risk. America's seniors health risk, all Americans health at risk. And you should resign."

Debate on COVID-19 Boosters

Sen. Warren: "Secretary Kennedy, will you tell America that all adults and all children over six months of age are eligible to get a Covid booster at their local pharmacy today?"

RFK Jr.: "Anybody can get the booster."

Sen. Warren: "I'm sorry."

RFK Jr.: "Anybody can get it."

Sen. Warren: "Anybody. So you're saying that is now the official rule of just anybody is eligible to get a booster by just walking into the pharmacy?"

RFK Jr.: "It's not recommended for healthy people."

Sen. Warren: "No, no. If you don't recommend, then the consequence of that in many states is that you can't walk into a pharmacy and get one."

RFK Jr.: "I'm not going to recommend a product for which there's no clinical data for that indication, which is that what I should be doing."

Tensions Over Vaccine Access

RFK Jr.: "I never promised that I was going to recommend products with which there is no indication. And I know you've taken $855,000 from pharmaceutical company and Senator."

Sen. Warren: "Did you hold up a big sign saying that you were lying when you said that? Because you are the one who said you would not take them away?"

RFK Jr. on Antidepressants in Kids

RFK Jr.: "We now have one out of every five kids on these drugs and the antidepressants, even more. And we know very little about the long term impacts because NIH and CDC have been asleep at the wheel."

Other Key Exchanges

Sen. Hassan (D-NH): "Why have you acted behind closed doors to overrule scientists and limit the freedom of parents to choose the Covid vaccine for their children?"

RFK Jr.: "This is crazy talk. You're just making things up."

Sen. Warner (D-VA): "How can you be that ignorant?"

RFK Jr.: "The only confusion I expressed is exactly how many lives were saved. I don't think anybody knows that because the data chaos."

Sen. Cantwell (D-WA): "You're a charlatan."

RFK Jr.: "You're so wrong on your facts."

Sen. Bennet (D-CO): "Will vaccines still be free and accessible to parents?"

RFK Jr.: "I assume they will be."

What's next:

In Georgia, state health officials are awaiting CDC guidance before administering this fall’s updated COVID-19 vaccine. The Department of Public Health said that has been the protocol since the vaccines were first introduced.

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