Robert F. Kennedy Jr made his first Congressional appearance as Secretary of Health and Human Services on Wednesday and came under withering criticism from Democrats appalled by massive cuts to the agency and the secretary’s unwillingness to endorse childhood vaccinations.
Out gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) elicited one of the most memorable exchanges in back-to-back appearances by Kennedy, the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group, before House and Senate committees.
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Describing Kennedy and his public positions on health policy and vaccinations as “somewhat of a conundrum,” Pocan reminded him that Kennedy had vaccinated his own children, and then asked, “If you had a child today, would you vaccinate that child for measles?”
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“Probably for measles,” the secretary said haltingly, adding, “My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant.”
“I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” Kennedy said.
On further questioning from Pocan, Kennedy wouldn’t answer whether he would vaccinate his own children against chicken pox and polio today.
“I think what we’re going to try to do,” Kennedy said of childhood vaccinations, “is to lay out the pros and cons, the risks and benefits accurately, as we understand them.”
The U.S. is currently experiencing the largest measles outbreak in 25 years, with over a thousand confirmed cases and two deaths in 14 outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Falling vaccination rates have been cited as the cause.
Just 31% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week agreed that the administration is “handling the outbreak responsibly.”
“You’re making medical decisions every day,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) told Kennedy. “You’re the secretary of HHS. You have tremendous power over health policy. Really horrified that you will not encourage families to vaccinate their children.”
Kennedy’s opening remarks in the Senate health committee were interrupted by protestors shouting, “RFK kills people with AIDS.” They were dragged from the hearing room by security.
Stickers reading Kennedy is “ANTI-VAX ANTI-SCIENCE ANTI-AMERICAN,” “grandparents for vaccines,” and “WHEN BOBBY LIES CHILDREN DIE” were worn by other members of the public, The Washington Post reports.
In the Senate hearing, Pocan’s colleague from the Wisconsin Congressional delegation, out lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), raked Kennedy over handling lead poisoning claims for the agency.
Exasperated with Kennedy’s contradictory statements and actions, Baldwin told him, “You cannot tell us that you want to ‘make America healthy again’ when you are willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning … the entire staff has been fired.”
Baldwin to RFK Jr: "You cannot tell us that you want to make America healthy again when you are willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning … the entire staff has been fired"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
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While Kennedy has denied that he is anti-vax, he’s also said, “autism comes from vaccines.”
He also recently claimed that the measles vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris,” which it does not. Pressed on this claim by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) yesterday, Kennedy had a meltdown.
“All true! All true!” he shouted at Murphy. “You want me to lie to the public?”
In one of his most outrageous claims, Kennedy said last year that “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
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