RFK Jr. Faces Heat as Lawmakers Call Out His 'Terrible' Vaccine Decisions

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced sharp questioning from lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday, April 17.

The 72-year-old was questioned over his decision to end a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) public awareness campaign promoting vaccines, as well as proposed budget cuts of approximately $16 billion to his department.

During the hearing, Rep. Linda Sánchez posed a direct concern to Kennedy Jr., asking whether President Donald Trump supported the Health Secretary's decision to stop a public awareness campaign by the CDC that encouraged people to get vaccinated.

Kennedy Jr. began his response by saying, "Allow me to answer, to respond to a lot of the misinformation that you…" before Sánchez cut him off, asking for a direct answer.

As it appeared that the Health Secretary was trying to dodge the topic, Sánchez pressed, "No, answer my question, please, sir.”

Responding to this, Kennedy Jr. said, “There's a global measles epidemic. We've done better at preventing measles than any country in the world.”

Sánchez, however, disputed this claim, saying that the United States has seen a significant increase in measles cases compared to other countries.

Kennedy Jr. responded by comparing the U.S. to Mexico, pointing out that the neighboring country has more cases despite a having a much smaller population.

"Mexico has three times our measles, and they have one eighth of our population," he said.

Following this, Sánchez reiterated her earlier question. “Did President Trump approve your decision to end the CDC's pro-vaccine public messaging campaign?" she asked.

Kennedy again repeated, "We've done better at preventing measles than any country in the world," without directly answering the question.

After it appeared that Kennedy Jr.’s response had failed to satisfy the lawmakers, Sánchez accused him of making decisions that could adversely affect people’s lives, especially children.

Sánchez said, “I think you don't want to answer the question because I think you know that you're making terrible, terrible decisions that impact very, very real lives, especially the lives of children.”

Notably, she wasn't the only one to point fingers at the Health Secretary.

California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson also challenged Kennedy Jr. during the hearing, saying, "Your dangerous conspiracy theories are undermining safe and effective vaccines."

Thompson also displayed a chart showing nearly 4,000 measles cases reported in the United States in 2025 and 2026.

Since taking office, Kennedy Jr. has made significant changes to U.S. vaccine policy. He has moved to reduce the number of recommended vaccines for children and replaced a key expert advisory panel with members who are critical of vaccines.

Kennedy appeared at the hearing to present the Trump administration's budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services, which calls for reducing the agency's funding by approximately $16 billion — a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous fiscal year.