Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as U.S. Health Secretary, faced intense bipartisan criticism in a Senate hearing following a major leadership shakeup at the CDC, including the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez2345.
Kennedy defended the changes by claiming the CDC had made critical mistakes during the COVID-19 pandemic and required new leadership willing to implement bold reforms35.
Several senators from both parties accused Kennedy of politicizing public health, undermining scientific integrity, and stacking scientific advisory panels with members outside the mainstream scientific consensus13.
More than 1,000 current and former HHS personnel called for Kennedy’s resignation in response to the CDC turmoil and the firing of top vaccine experts4.
Kennedy criticized the CDC as corrupt and accused federal agencies of collusion with the pharmaceutical industry, while defending actions to fire those overseeing previous COVID-19 mitigation policies13.
At the hearing, Kennedy repeated claims about vaccine safety that run counter to established scientific consensus, and he received both Republican and Democratic scrutiny for his stances1345.
Sources:
1. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02845-8
2. https://firstwordpharma.com/story/5994880
3. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rfk-jr-invokes-democrat-fathers-words-defend-trump-backed-cdc-shakeup-senate-hearing