Senators grill Kennedy over chaos at the CDC

Parties sharply split on public health approach

By:Adrianna Rodriquez
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Jay Stahl
and Zac Anderson
USA Today

..... Senators alarmed by chaos at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grilled Helaht and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over what some are calling his politicization of lifesaving vaccines and his past promises not to interfere in scientific decisions.
..... Kennedy's, a longtime vaccine skeptic who has promoted misinformation about public health, recently ousted his handpicked CDC director Dr. Susan Monarez, with President Donald Trump's backing in a blown-up that saw several top officials quit the agency.
..... The health secretary said firing the CDC director was "absolutely necessary."
..... "These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world's gold standard pubic health agency with a central mission of protection Americans from infectious diseases," he told senators at the September 4 [2025] hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
..... Kennedy criticized former CDC officials for the agency's policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them "nonsensical" and claiming they "destroyed small businesses" and "violated civil liberties."
..... "They did not do their job," he said.
..... Monarez said Kennedy asked her to "pre-apporve the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed anti-vaccine rhetoric" in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal on September 4. [2025]
..... "Did you, in fact, do what Director Monarez said you did?" asked Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.
..... "No, I did not," Kennedy said.
..... "So she lying today [09/04/2025] to the American people in the wall Street Journal?" Wyden asked.
..... "Yes, sir,: Kennedy responded.

Standing by vaccine death claims

..... Kennedy has been criticized for his mixed messaging on a measles outbreak, firing a vaccine advisory panel and cutting $500 million in funding for developing mRNA technology, which is sued in the two most common COVID-19 vaccines.
..... Kennedy said during his testimony that he agreed with Retsef Levi, a management and health analytics expert who is now serving on the CDC's vaccine panel, that mRNA vaccines were responsible for deaths in young children.
..... Wyden and committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, had divergent takes on Kennedy's role as HHS secretary.
..... "Under this administration, HHS has placed patients at the center of the health care system, empowering them with the tools and information they need to cerate a healthier future," Carpo said.
..... Wyden said the United States is a health care calamity, thanks to spending and staffing cuts to HHS.
..... "I traveled across Oregon last month, [08/2025] and the message was the same from one end of the state to the other. "They're scared about who to trust about their health care."

Accusations of inconsistency

..... Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, didn't pull his punches when question Kennedy, a reversal of his initial support for the health secretary.
..... Cassidy, a physician, questioned Kennedy's approval of Operation Warp Speed, a 2020 Trump administration initiative that expedited research and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
..... "It surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney you attempted to restrict access' to vaccines, Cassidy said. "You've canceled $500 million of contracts suing the mRNA platform was critical for Operation Warp Speed."
..... "It seems inconsistent of you" he added.
..... Cassidy also raised Kennedy's nomination of members to the federal vaccine panel who served as expert witnesses for plaintiffs suing vaccine companies, expressing concern that it may be a conflict of interest.
..... Kennedy agreed that it may represent some bias.
..... Doctors and patients were confused and concerned that they wouldn't be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Cassidy told Kennedy.
..... The senator was a key vote during Kennedy's confirmation in January. [2025] Kennedy's nomination advanced to the full Senate on a 14-13 vote in the Senate Finance Committee with Cassidy's support.

Calls to resign

..... Democratic members of the committee called for Kennedy's resignation in a statement released before the hearing.
..... "Rabbet Kennedy was unfit to serve as th4e Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services before he was on the job, which is why every Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee opposed his nomination," they said in a statement. "The actions Robert Kennedy has taken since he was sworn in reinforce the danger he poses to the health of America."
..... Joining the September 4 [2025] statement, in addition to Wyden, were Senators Michael Bennet, D-Colorado; Mark Warner, D-Virginia; Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada; Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Bernie Sander, I Vermont; time Smith D-Minnesota; Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico; Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, and Peter Welch, D-Vermont.
..... On September 3, [2025] more than 1,000 former and current HHS employees asked Kennedy to step down, saying he was "endangering the lives of Americans." The letter was sent after the dismissal of Monarez and resignation of thee high-level officials at the CDC.

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