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RFK Jr. Will Testify Before Senate Panel Next Week
Senators will soon get a chance to question the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about Wednesday’s sudden shakeup at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Kennedy will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, two people granted anonymity to describe the plans first told POLITICO Thursday.
Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said in a subsequent statement confirming the hearing that Kennedy would speak before the panel on President Donald Trump’s health care agenda. “Kennedy has placed addressing the underlying causes of chronic diseases at the forefront of this Administration’s health care agenda,” Crapo said. “I look forward to learning more about the Department of Health and Human Services’ Make America Healthy Again actions to date and plans moving forward.”
Kennedy’s appearance before the Finance panel was in the works before the White House fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, who is now challenging her ouster. Three
top CDC leaders resigned minutes after news of Monarez’s ouster broke. Numerous Democrats have sharply criticized the CDC moves, including calling for a congressional investigation or for Kennedy to be fired. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, where the agency is based, said “putting a quack like Bobby Kennedy in charge of public health was a grave error” and that the Trump administration’s “extremism and incompetence are putting lives at risk.”
The hearing will be senators’ first opportunity to question Kennedy face-to-face since May, when he appeared separately before the Senate HELP and Appropriations committees to discuss his department’s fiscal 2026 budget request.
5 Big Collisions Between RFK Jr. And CDC Scientists Before Director Was Fired
The White House fired Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after she refused to resign amid pressure from the Trump administration to change vaccine policy.
Her lawyers accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health for political gain” and “putting millions of American lives at risk” by purging health officials from government. Following her abrupt exit, weeks after the Senate confirmed her to lead the CDC, at least three top CDC officials announced their resignations.
The backlash to Monarez’s ouster marks the latest instance of Kennedy, the founder of an anti-vaccine organization who last year called the CDC a “cesspool of corruption,” clashing with agency scientists since he became the nation’s top health official in February. Here’s what to know.
RFK Jr. Defends CDC Shake-up After High-Level Resignations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday he is addressing problems at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid a wave of high-profile resignations following the ouster of the agency’s director.
In an interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” Kennedy said he was not surprised that four top CDC officials resigned after the White House fired Susan Monarez, who was sworn into the post just a month earlier. “No, it has not caught us by surprise,” Kennedy said in the interview. “Again, I cannot comment on personnel issues, but the agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it — and we are fixing it — and it may be that some people should not be working there anymore.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Kennedy told Monarez to resign or be fired on Monday over tensions around vaccine policy. After Monarez refused to resign Wednesday, the White House terminated her from her position. Kennedy said Thursday it would be “inappropriate” to comment on personnel issues but said Trump “has very, very ambitious hopes for CDC right now,” adding,
“The CDC has problems.” Kennedy argued the CDC has placed too great an emphasis on fluoridation and vaccines, as well as abortion. “So we need to look at the priorities of the agency,” he said, “if there’s really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency, and we need strong leadership that will go in there, and that will be able to execute on President Trump’s broad ambitions.”
Cassidy Calls for Vaccine Committee Meeting to Be Postponed Following CDC Departures
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee reported:
Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, or HELP, Committee, called for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to indefinitely postpone their September 18th meeting.
“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting. These decisions directly impact children’s health and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted.
If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership,” said Dr. Cassidy.
East Texas Lawmaker’s Ivermectin Bill Passes Senate, Heads to Governor Abbott’s Desk
The Texas Senate has passed an East Texas legislator’s bill allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a doctor’s prescription. House Bill 25, filed by State Rep. Joanne Shofner (R-Nacogdoches), was approved along party lines first in the House Wednesday, and then the Senate hours later.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ivermectin can be used to treat certain parasitic diseases in humans and livestock. Lawmakers noted that the drug has been discussed as a possible treatment for COVID-19, which the FDA has not approved.
Republican lawmakers have said the legislation is needed because pharmacists are refusing to fill ivermectin prescriptions. Meanwhile, Democrats have argued that allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a doctor’s consent poses medical risks for Texans. The bill now heads to Governor Greg Abbot’s desk where it’s expected to be signed into law.
RFK Jr. Mandates Nutrition Education in Medical Training With Looming Deadline
The U.S. government will soon require medical education organizations to immediately provide thorough nutrition education and training. The initiative, led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education departments, is part of the Trump Administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, seeking to reduce chronic diseases via diet and public health changes.
The authorities say medical education organizations must submit plans, including the scope, timeline, standards alignment, measurable milestones, and accountability measures of their nutrition education commitments by Sept. 10. Secretaries Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (HHS) and Linda McMahon (Education) highlight Association of American Medical Colleges data showing that medical students receive less than two hours of nutrition classes.
Data shows: “Most schools in the 2023–24 survey (82%) also offered nutrition content in elective or optional curricula, with the same percentage (82%) incorporating nutrition in both required and elective components.” “However, less than half (45%) reported that nutrition was included in multiple courses or rotations and only 17% reported that this information was fully integrated across all years or phases of their curriculum.” Seventy-five percent of U.S. medical schools have no compulsory nutrition classes, and 14% of residency programs have a requirement, according to research from last year.
