When Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down with CBS News last month, the network’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook, pressed the Cabinet secretary on some of his most controversial decisions from recent months. RFK Jr., however, repeatedly said he wasn’t aware of the actions LaPook was describing.
Last week, the spectacularly unqualified HHS secretary ran into a similar problem during back-to-back appearances before House and Senate committees: Lawmakers kept asking Kennedy about steps he and his department have taken, and he kept responding with answers such as “When did I do that?” and “I don’t know about that.”
This week, it happened yet again, during Kennedy’s appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, for example, asked about HHS cutting funding for ALS research. The secretary said the senator’s question was the first he’d heard about this.
DURBIN: How can we give hope to people across the country who are suffering from so many diseases when our government is cutting back on that research?RFK Jr: I do not know about any cuts to ALS researchD: I just read them to you!R: I didn't know about them until you told me about them
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-05-20T18:57:12.377Z
As the hearing progressed, and the problem persisted, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington raised a highly provocative point.
“Secretary Kennedy, listening to your testimony last week frankly left me pretty confused and concerned about what’s happening at your department,” the senator said. “You repeatedly claimed that staffing and funding cuts that have been reported on publicly and even confirmed by [HHS] staff are not happening. So either you’re lying, or you’re not the one making decisions.”
MURRAY: You repeatedly claimed staffing & funding cuts that have been reported on publicly & even confirmed by your dept staff are not happening. So either you're lying or you're not the one making decisionsRFK Jr: Senator, you presided over the destruction of the health of the American people
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-05-20T18:10:38.724Z
RFK Jr. clearly wasn’t pleased, but he proceeded to reinforce Murray’s point: When the Washington Democrat asked, “I am asking you a question about child care. I am asking you who made the decision to withhold Child Care and Development Block Grant funding?” Kennedy replied, “That was made by my department.”
Those with questions about the secretary’s competence before the hearing were handed fresh rhetorical ammunition, as questions returned to the fore about whether the secretary is fully aware of what’s happening in the agency he ostensibly leads.
What’s more, barring a dramatic change, Murray probably won’t be the last person to wonder aloud whether RFK Jr. is “the one making decisions” at HHS.
