Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returned to Capitol Hill Thursday for his first congressional appearance since September, facing intense scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers over proposed budget reductions exceeding 12% for his department.
During his appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, which marks the beginning of seven budget hearings scheduled for the coming week, Kennedy highlighted the administration’s efforts to overhaul dietary guidelines and eliminate wasteful spending.
Committee Republicans welcomed Kennedy as a “breath of fresh air” and invited him to discuss his department’s recent initiatives. However, Democrats, who have criticized Kennedy’s extensive restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pursued a more confrontational approach.
Democratic members challenged Kennedy on what they characterized as administrative inconsistencies regarding fraud prevention, questioned his rationale for program budget reductions, and criticized his decision to scale back vaccine promotion efforts, which they argued has led to preventable fatalities.
Kennedy responded forcefully, frequently elevating his voice while accusing Democratic representatives of distorting his record and previous public statements.
A particularly tense moment occurred when Rep. Linda Sanchez of California confronted Kennedy about recent measles cases nationwide and questioned his role in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to reduce pro-vaccination public communications.
“As a mother, this horrifies me,” Sanchez said. “Did President Trump approve your decision to end CDC’s pro-vaccine public messaging campaign?”
Kennedy consistently avoided providing a direct response, stating he first wanted to address the “misstatements that you’ve made” and subsequently defending the Trump administration’s measles prevention efforts, despite declining vaccination rates in certain regions.
“That’s not answering my question,” Sanchez said as the two talked over each other.
However, Sanchez managed to get Kennedy, who was known as an anti-vaccine advocate before entering government, to concede that vaccination might have prevented the death of a 6-year-old Texas child who died from measles last year.
“Do you agree with the majority of doctors that the measles vaccine could have saved that child’s life in Texas?” she asked.
“It’s possible, certainly,” Kennedy said.
Another confrontation developed between Kennedy and Alabama Democrat Rep. Terri Sewell when Kennedy strongly disputed making statements he had actually made in 2024.
The remarks originated during Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Speaking on the “High Level Conversations” podcast last July, he said, “Psychiatric drugs — which every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence, and those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get re-parented to live in a community where there’ll be no cellphones, no screens, you’ll actually have to talk to people.”
“Have you ever re-parented, or parented, I should say, a Black child?” Sewell asked, as her staff held up a poster featuring an abbreviated version of the quote.
“I don’t even know what that phrase means,” Kennedy said. “I’m not going to answer something I didn’t say.”
“You’re making stuff up,” he later claimed.
Podcast recordings confirm he made these statements while discussing proposed free rehabilitation centers he planned to establish in rural locations nationwide.
HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard explained that Kennedy, before joining the administration, was describing environments where young people experiencing isolation, mental health issues and hopelessness could receive re-parenting, which she defined as a psychotherapy concept for “developing the emotional regulation, discipline, boundaries, and self-worth that may not have been established in childhood.”
Kennedy, who spent most of his career as a Democrat and comes from one of America’s most prominent political dynasties, found himself at odds with his former party throughout the hearing. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers opened their remarks by acknowledging their respect for Kennedy’s family members, including former President John F. Kennedy.
The deteriorating relationship between Kennedy and his previous political allies was evident as bitter exchanges continued throughout Thursday’s session.
The health secretary became increasingly defensive and visibly frustrated, repeatedly criticizing Democratic committee members for not allowing him adequate response time.
“They’ve all shut me up,” Kennedy said at one point. “They give a little speech that they can go and market, you know, for fundraising, and they don’t allow me to answer the question.”
Occasionally, interactions remained respectful. Wisconsin Representative Gwen Moore employed humor to maintain civility.
“I promise to give you easy, comfortable questions if you don’t yell at me and hurt my feelings,” she told Kennedy. He promised he wouldn’t.
