HHS Secretary Kennedy Testifies, Defends Staffing Cuts and Reorganizations that Put Access to Services at Risk

Yesterday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testified in front of separate House and Senate committees about HHS staffing cuts, reorganizations, and messaging that put access to programs, funding, and preventive services at risk.

Secretary Kennedy Defends, Denies Staffing and Program Cuts

The Secretary defended sweeping staffing cuts that have eliminated the staff of many programs, claiming that the staffing cuts would not interfere with the programs. He also defended the administration’s “skinny budget,” which showed even more drastic cuts including complete elimination of some health programs.

Some of Kennedy’s messages were mixed. At the House Committee on Appropriations, Kennedy claimed that “many of the programs that the Democrats are now saying were cut (at) the CDC were not cut at all.“ But at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, Kennedy did not rebut assertions and questions from Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) about cuts to the CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention program, and the impact it has had on remediation efforts in her state. Baldwin explained that the city of Milwaukee requested expert assistance from the CDC to help it address a growing problem of older elementary school students with lead poisoning but that the request was denied due to a lack of staff.

“You cannot tell us that you want to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ when you’re willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning,” she said.

Secretary Kennedy Refuses Blame for Misleading Vaccine Messaging

A devastating measles outbreak has raised concerns about a resurgence of that disease. Despite claiming during his confirmation hearing that he supported vaccines, Kennedy first endorsed the measles vaccine then raised concerns about its safety. In front of the Appropriations Committee, he “noted that health agencies were handling the U.S. measles outbreak better than other nations have handled theirs,” but refused “to answer whether people should get shots for various vaccine-preventable diseases.” During the hearings, Kennedy denied any harm from his vaccine messaging, arguing that people should not take medical advice from him.

Importantly, Kennedy’s past vaccine comments include claims that vaccines cause autism. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced they are going to study the link, despite the initial claim of a connection being based on a known fraud and no reputable science finding any connection in the many decades since the initial fraudulent paper and its subsequent retraction.

Further Reading

Read more about the staffing cuts.

Read more about the “skinny” budget.