US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A Committee of Democrats and Republicans said on Wednesday that the public should not take into account medical advice from him, after having launched questions about the vaccination of his children or not.
Kennedy faced a bipartite committee of representatives of the Chamber, responsible for questioning him about the proposals for the sweeping of reductions for financing health care and scientific research for exercise 2026, and on the way in which he operates his department.
The US Secretary for Health and Social Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies to the Senatural Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2025, in Washington, DC
Samuel Corum / Getty images
The group of legislators probed Kennedy’s approach to his work, some arguing that he has endangered the absorption of vaccines, research on cancer and dental health for a few months in power.
But Kennedy was held near Trump administration The efforts to redraw the boundaries of the agency of $ 1.7 billion of dollars per year, promising that this would create a more effective operation focused on the promotion of healthier lifestyles among the Americans.
“There are so many chaos and disorganization in this department,” said Kennedy at the hearing.
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“What we say is that we organize in a way that we can quickly adopt and deploy all these opportunities, we really have to provide high quality health care to the American people.”
The Secretary of Health, who has already reduced his department to 82,000 to 62,000 employees, defended the budget proposed by the Trump administration for next year, which includes an increase in funding of $ 500 million for its Make America Healthy Again initiative and its intention to reduce funding for infectious disease prevention, medical research and maternal health initiatives.
The Secretary of Health has traveled a meticulous examination on both sides of the bench, the Democratic representative Bonnie Watson-Coleman of New Jersey wonders why he plans to effectively eliminate the low-income energy aid program, which provides $ 4.1 billion in family heating assistance in need, including those who live in distant regions.
Kennedy said the cuts would save money from the government, despite being warned by supporters of the program who would get rid of it “would end up killing people.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska republican, said that any economy made would feel too late for the inhabitants of her state.
“Right now, Alaska people still need these ugly generators to stay warm,” she said.
Kennedy mixed messaging on vaccinesWho has already caused a rift in the health service, has also proved controversial during Wednesday procedures.
“If you had a child today, would you vaccine this child for measles?” Democratic representative Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, who described Kennedy as an “enigma”, asked the audience.
“For measles? Um, probably for measles,” said Kennedy, with momentary hesitation. “What I would say is that my opinions on vaccines are not relevant.
When asked if he would vaccinate his children against chickenpox, Kennedy doubled, saying that he did not want to give vaccination advice. He said the same thing in response to the questioning of polio protection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2000 and 2023, the measles The vaccine has avoided around 60 million deaths linked to the disease, and in the past 50 years, has saved 94 million lives.
– with files from the Associated Press
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