Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a barrage of questions from Senate Democrats on Wednesday over his handling of a measles outbreak that has reached its highest level in nearly three decades, with Kennedy repeatedly insisting he bears no responsibility for the spike while also appearing to reverse course on vaccines he has long opposed.
The health secretary testified before the Senate Finance Committee as measles cases surged to 2,288 last year, the most since the disease was declared eliminated in the US 25 years ago. An additional 1,748 cases have been reported already this year, raising alarms among public health experts that the nation could lose its disease-free status.
Senator Ron Wyden opened the hearing with a sharp rebuke, saying Kennedy had used his platform to undermine parental confidence in vaccines. "When it comes to vaccines, Robert Kennedy has used this once-in-a-lifetime platform to make parents doubt themselves and doubt their doctors," Wyden said. "The secretary has ducked, bobbed and weaved without taking the responsibility."
Kennedy deflected blame for the outbreak, claiming the US had managed the crisis better than Mexico or Canada. "I had nothing to do with the measles outbreak here," he said. "We have limited our outbreak better than any country in the world."
Public health specialists have contradicted this, arguing that Kennedy failed to aggressively promote vaccination and instead highlighted unproven treatments like steroids as cases spread across state lines.
Senator Michael Bennet pressed Kennedy on his past statements about vaccines, citing what he called the highest number of childhood flu deaths in modern American history in 2025. Bennet noted that Kennedy once claimed the flu vaccine was destroying children's brains and offered no evidence it prevented hospitalizations or deaths.
"We're making sure that we follow the science," Kennedy replied, a stark departure from his long public record questioning vaccine safety.
When asked directly whether he supports the measles vaccine, Kennedy said yes. When pressed on the MMR vaccine, he offered similar endorsement: "We promote the MMR. We advise every child to get the MMR." The statements marked a notable shift from his earlier mixed messaging on immunizations.
Senator Ben Ray Luján accused Kennedy of spreading vaccine misinformation and demanded a plan to increase MMR vaccination rates and reduce measles cases. Kennedy offered no specific metrics or timeline.
Kennedy also batted away a question from Senator Maria Cantwell about artificial intelligence systems potentially being used to deny Medicare claims. He acknowledged there were "probably kinks in the system" but said AI was meant to detect fraud, and the agency would work to resolve any issues.
When asked about releasing written agreements with pharmaceutical companies, Kennedy flatly refused, citing proprietary information and trade secrets.
The hearing underscored the broader dysfunction at the nation's top health agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kennedy oversees, has roughly 80% of its senior leadership positions still unfilled. No permanent director has been named to guide the agency's response to infectious disease, chronic illness, or cancer screening. Current and former CDC officials say bureaucratic delays and paperwork backlogs have slowed operations and disrupted data collection essential to the agency's mission.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and vaccine advocate who supported Kennedy's confirmation after receiving assurances that federal vaccine guidelines would be upheld, notably did not raise vaccine concerns during his questioning. Cassidy is facing a contentious primary challenge next month in Louisiana, with former President Donald Trump backing his opponent.
Kennedy also defended the administration's Medicaid record, citing a Congressional Budget Office projection showing spending rising from $668 billion in 2025 to $981 billion in 2036. However, he sidestepped questions about a White House proposal to cut the Department of Health and Human Services budget by more than $15 billion next year, a 12% reduction from current levels.
Author James Rodriguez: "Kennedy's vaccine reversal reads less like a conversion and more like a man responding to political heat, and it rings hollow when a measles outbreak on his watch tells the real story."
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