WASHINGTON – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to concentrate on nutrition and food safety initiatives when he testifies before Congress Thursday, while avoiding discussion of his controversial vaccine positions and autism research plans, according to his prepared remarks.
Kennedy’s 12-page written testimony, filed before two Thursday hearings, represents another indication that the health chief is distancing himself from his most divisive stances as November’s midterm elections approach.
Two individuals with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that the White House has recently encouraged health department leaders to steer policy conversations toward more widely accepted subjects, as President Donald Trump and Republicans work to maintain their narrow congressional control.
The former anti-vaccine advocate suffered a significant blow last month when a court decision blocked major portions of his vaccine policy reform efforts.
Kennedy is set to testify Thursday before two House committees regarding health aspects of the Trump administration’s 2027 budget plan, with four additional hearings scheduled for next week before both House and Senate panels.
The proposed budget seeks $111 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, representing a 12.5% reduction from existing funding levels. This includes cutting $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health and completely eliminating a program that helps low-income families with energy costs. Multiple prominent Republicans, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, have already denounced these reductions as unwarranted.
Democratic lawmakers are anticipated to challenge Kennedy on increasing healthcare expenses, his actions that have weakened public trust in vaccines, canceled NIH research grants that have postponed medical studies, and his management during the country’s most severe measles outbreak in recent years.
Kennedy’s prepared remarks highlight accomplishments from his “Make America Healthy Again” program and other administration goals, focusing on nutrition improvements, food safety measures, prescription drug pricing, fraud prevention efforts, and restrictions on children’s access to gender-affirming medical treatments.
“We cannot hope to make America great again without first making Americans healthy again,” Kennedy intends to state. “The bedrock of health — the key to reversing the chronic disease epidemic — is nutrition.”
Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon addressed the vaccine omission, saying “Secretary Kennedy speaks about a broad range of issues that affect the health and well-being of American families, and his statement reflects the priorities Americans consistently say matter most to them, from chronic disease prevention, childhood nutrition, food quality, and affordable health care.”
Nixon declined to comment on whether Kennedy might discuss vaccines or autism during the hearing, or confirm if the White House directed him to emphasize more popular policies before the election.
The Trump administration must carefully balance support from millions of MAHA movement followers who supported the president’s 2024 reelection but now oppose Trump’s directive to increase pesticide production, while managing widespread public skepticism toward Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda.
Kennedy, who helped establish the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, has worked during his time in office to decrease recommended childhood vaccinations, restructured a CDC advisory committee of independent vaccine specialists, and committed to determining autism’s underlying causes.
Both Kennedy and his followers have consistently connected autism to vaccines, a claim repeatedly disproven by scientific research, sometimes with Trump’s direct endorsement.
Political analysts and campaign experts predict healthcare expenses will be a top concern for voters this November.
