Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to defend himself before Congress on Thursday amid calls for his resignation and accusations that he is a danger to Americans’ health.
During an unusually confrontational three-hour hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, the health and human services secretary was accused of lying to senators during his confirmation hearings and harming public health by restricting access to vaccines. He responded by lashing out, accusing senators of misleading the public and corruption.
The hearing represented the harshest congressional oversight of any Cabinet official since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in January. One after the other, lawmakers — including Republicans — peppered Kennedy with questions over his chaotic leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services, including his firing of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, his anti-vaccine record and rhetoric, and his ongoing attacks on disease-fighting treatments.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts noted that Kennedy’s new recommendations for Covid vaccines have limited their availability at pharmacies in many states. She outright accused Kennedy of lying to the committee during his nomination hearings, breaking his promises not to restrict access to vaccines.
“Last November, you said, ‘If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,’” she said. But just last week, she noted, “You announced the Covid-19 vaccine is no longer available for healthy people under 65.”
“You are putting America’s babies’ health at risk, America’s seniors’ health at risk, all Americans’ health at risk and you should resign,” Warren said.
Changes Kennedy has made to vaccine policy, including updates to FDA labeling that was unsupported by data, have affected vaccine access in more than a dozen states, making it difficult or impossible for people excluded by Kennedy’s new recommendations—those under 65 without underlying conditions that increase Covid risk—to get shots.
Kennedy defended his actions at HHS, saying he was tasked with leading an agency that had squandered public trust with aggressive public health measures and poor messaging during the pandemic. Kennedy said he was restoring that trust.
The hearing, which was supposed to focus on Trump’s 2026 HHS budget, was punctuated by explosive exchanges between Kennedy and the senators, many of whom he accused of lying and being corrupted by pharmaceutical money.
“Every single day, there’s been an action that endangers the health and wellness of American families,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the highest ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, where Kennedy testified. “Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists, crackpots and grifters to make life-or-death decisions about the health care of the American people.”
A key Senate Republican, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor and chairman of the Senate health committee who had reluctantly voted for Kennedy’s confirmation, joined with blistering questions of his own.
Cassidy asked Kennedy to explain the inconsistencies between his support for Trump’s Operation Warp Speed — the first-term program that delivered Covid vaccines to Americans, for which Cassidy recently suggested Trump should win a Nobel prize — and Kennedy’s statements saying those vaccines caused widespread injuries and deaths.
President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed.
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) September 3, 2025
Cassidy, who also sits on the Finance Committee, noted that Kennedy’s hand-picked replacements for the vaccine experts he fired have been paid witnesses in legal cases against pharmaceutical manufacturers — a concern that Kennedy dismissed. And Cassidy cited concerns by fellow conservatives over actions taken by Kennedy that have limited access to covid vaccines.
“I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccine,” Cassidy charged.
“You’re wrong,” Kennedy said.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire echoed Cassidy’s points on Operation Warp Speed and restricted access to Covid vaccines.
“This is crazy talk,” Kennedy shot back at Hassan, in an aggressive tone uncommon for a Cabinet official testifying before Congress. “You’re making things up to scare people, and it’s a lie.”
From the outset, Wyden questioned Kennedy’s truthfulness. At the start of the hearing, he asked the committee to swear in Kennedy, so that his testimony would be under oath — a practice usually reserved for investigatory and nomination hearings — citing the HHS secretary’s previous “lies.” (During his nomination hearings, Kennedy swore he would not limit access to vaccines or dissuade Americans from taking them, both promises he has broken during his time at HHS.) Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, rejected Wyden’s request.
A former anti-vaccine activist and lawyer, Kennedy has continued his advocacy against immunizations from inside the federal government. From routine childhood vaccinations to Covid vaccines to emergency measures in the midst of a measles outbreak, he has made false claims about the dangers of vaccines and downplayed their effectiveness.
“It’s been obvious from the start that Robert Kennedy’s primary interest is to take vaccines away from Americans. During his confirmation process, he claimed to be pro-safety and pro-science, but his actions reveal a steadfast commitment to elevating junk science and fringe conspiracies,” Wyden said.
Kennedy began his testimony by touting what he framed as wins for his agency: meetings with Native American tribes, reducing reliance on animal testing, limiting cellphones in schools, increasing nutrition education in medical schools and tackling issues such as sickle cell anemia.
Kennedy’s breathing into the microphone was noticeably labored during his testimony, which at one point was interrupted by a protester who had to be removed. “You’re killing millions of people!” the person shouted before being escorted out of the hearing room.
"You're killing millions of people!" — RFK Jr's opening statement is disrupted by a demonstrator pic.twitter.com/b5PAUPfjyl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 4, 2025
Kennedy also defended his gutting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — including the firing of Director Susan Monarez just 29 days after she was confirmed to lead the agency — and the high-profile resignations of four senior leaders, who have since launched a media blitz warning of the public health threat Kennedy’s leadership poses to the country.








