RFK Jr. on the Hill

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent the past week defending his health agenda before Congress as lawmakers from both parties pressed him on vaccines, measles, drug prices and agency cuts. (npr.org) Kennedy appeared in seven hearings in seven days, including a House Energy and Commerce hearing on April 21 and Senate Finance and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearings on April 22. The Senate Finance hearing opened at 10 a.m. in 215 Dirksen, and the Senate HELP hearing followed later that day. (energycommerce.house.gov) (finance.senate.gov) (pbs.org) At the center of the hearings was President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 request for the Department of Health and Human Services, which would cut the department by more than 12%. NBC News reported the proposal would reduce funding by $15.8 billion to $111.1 billion. (cbsnews.com) (nbcnews.com) Democrats repeatedly tied Kennedy’s vaccine messaging to the country’s measles surge. NBC News reported 2,287 measles cases were recorded in 2025 and another 1,714 had already been recorded in 2026 by April 16, and Kennedy told Rep. Linda Sánchez that vaccination could “certainly” have saved a 6-year-old who died in Texas. (nbcnews.com) (cbsnews.com) Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who backed Kennedy’s confirmation last year, used the April 22 hearings to question him about vaccine-preventable disease before the 2026 World Cup and America 250 events. PBS reported Cassidy’s posture mattered politically because Trump has endorsed a primary challenger against him in Louisiana. (pbs.org) Lawmakers also pushed Kennedy on research and early-childhood funding. Coverage of the Senate hearings said senators challenged him over National Institutes of Health cuts and preschool funding, alongside questions about whether a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director would be free to make vaccine decisions. (npr.org) (hawaiitribune-herald.com) Drug prices gave Kennedy one of his few friendlier lines of argument. Associated Press said he used the hearings to promote administration efforts he says will make health care more affordable, even as lawmakers spent more time on vaccines, staffing cuts and shrinking recommendations for childhood shots. (apnews.com) The exchanges also revived scrutiny of Kennedy’s past remarks about Black children. CBS News reported Rep. Terri Sewell confronted him over comments he had made in 2024, and the exchange turned into one of several heated clashes over his record before joining the administration. (cbsnews.com) Kennedy answered the attacks by defending staff cuts, agency restructuring and his measles response, while Republicans on several panels praised his focus on nutrition, fraud and chronic disease. By Wednesday, the hearings had become a test of how much support he still has for remaking the federal health system from the top down. (cbsnews.com) (npr.org)