Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returns to Congress this week for the first time in six months, but the Health Secretary arrives as a diminished force within the Trump administration and facing a hostile line of questioning on vaccine policy, research funding, and his role in recent agency upheaval.
Kennedy will testify before the House Ways and Means and Appropriations committees Thursday, followed by Senate hearings next week. The seven hearings scheduled over the two weeks represent a gauntlet of accountability after months of controversy that have shifted the White House's stance toward his agenda.
The Health Secretary's opening remarks notably avoid the word "vaccine" entirely. Instead, Kennedy plans to spotlight drug pricing deals with 16 pharmaceutical companies and new dietary guidelines emphasizing whole foods. "We are ending the era of federal policies that fueled this chronic disease epidemic," he will tell lawmakers.
That carefully scripted approach reflects a broader retreat. Since his last Senate testimony in September, Kennedy ordered the CDC to suggest a link between vaccines and autism on its website, directed elimination of 17 childhood vaccinations from federal recommendations, and supported his handpicked advisers in dropping the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. A federal judge blocked the vaccine schedule changes last month.
Kennedy's political isolation has deepened inside the administration. Trump appointed senior adviser Chris Klomp as his de facto chief of staff, giving Klomp authority over personnel and policy priorities like drug prices. Kennedy has been relegated to low-profile advocacy around the country promoting dietary initiatives, conspicuously avoiding discussion of canceled funding for mRNA vaccine development.
Democrats are sharpening their attacks. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said Kennedy will face questions about breaking pledges made during his contentious confirmation hearings. "He was going to be independent and he was going to look at these issues again and all the rest, and he basically just went out and did all his anti-vax stuff wherever he could," Wyden said.
Republican unity is fracturing. Some GOP lawmakers still defend Kennedy for disrupting what they view as an agency captured by health industry interests. But others signal impatience heading toward midterm elections. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the health committee chairman, faces a Trump-backed primary challenger next month and has grown increasingly tense with Kennedy. When asked Wednesday what he would raise at the hearing, Cassidy demurred: "I've just got so much in my brain right now I'll address that when I get to it."
Appropriations questions loom large. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and House appropriator Tom Cole of Oklahoma, both NIH supporters, plan to press Kennedy on grants and funding the administration previously targeted. Capito also flagged the CDC, which has been without a permanent director since last summer. "There's been a fair amount of uncertainty there," she said.
Kennedy's appearance marks a test of whether the White House can steer him toward uncontroversial policy wins and away from the culture war issues that have drawn scrutiny and legal challenges to his authority.
Author James Rodriguez: "Kennedy's sudden rebranding as a drug-price reformer won't erase what he's already done to vaccine policy, and lawmakers aren't buying the pivot."
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