Congress Cannot Trust RFK Jr. With America’s Health

I am asking you to intensify congressional oversight of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and to reject any budget that weakens America’s public-health capacity while he continues to evade responsibility and mislead the public. At recent hearings, Secretary Kennedy defended President Trump’s claim that drug prices had been reduced by as much as 600% by saying the president has a “different way of calculating percentages.” That is not a minor verbal slip. It is a flashing warning light. The head of HHS is asking Congress and the public to accept major health-policy changes, sweeping agency cuts, and dubious affordability claims while treating basic math as optional. That same hearing record is even more disturbing when it comes to vaccines and disease outbreaks. Kennedy was pressed over measles, flu deaths, and vaccine misinformation. Instead of accepting responsibility for the consequences of anti-vaccine messaging from the nation’s top health office, he said, “I had nothing to do with the measles outbreak.” That is an astonishing statement from the secretary charged with protecting public health. The problem is not just his rhetoric. It is the damage that follows from it. The United States recorded its highest measles caseload in decades last year, and this year’s tally is already alarmingly high. Public-health specialists have warned that Kennedy failed to strongly promote vaccination while instead elevating unproven treatments. At the same time, the administration is proposing a 12% cut to HHS, even as the CDC reportedly remains hollowed out, with senior leadership positions still largely unfilled. This is not fiscal discipline. It is sabotage wrapped in spin. Congress should not reward it. I urge you to take four immediate steps. First, reject any HHS budget cuts that reduce disease surveillance, vaccination programs, research capacity, or the CDC’s operational strength. Second, demand full documentation for the administration’s prescription-drug pricing claims, instead of allowing slogans and invented percentages to stand in for evidence. Third, require sworn testimony and regular reporting on measles response, vaccine guidance, and staffing vacancies across CDC leadership. Fourth, support aggressive, public oversight hearings until the department is being run with transparency, scientific integrity, and basic competence. Americans deserve a health secretary who respects evidence, speaks plainly in a crisis, and understands that public trust is built on truth. Congress must act like the guardrail the Constitution intended and stop this ongoing degradation of the nation’s public-health system.