Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., called out Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his “extremist beliefs” and called on him to resign during a contentious congressional hearing where legislators grilled Kennedy on his actions and beliefs that experts warn have undermined U.S. public health and safety.
Warnock calls RFK Jr. a threat and an extremist
On Thursday, Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee and faced tough questions from several committee members. One of the most combative exchanges happened between Kennedy and Warnock. The Democratic senator from Georgia, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is headquartered, confronted Kennedy for politicizing his department to promote his skepticism of science.
“Clearly you have an agenda. It is a threat to the public health of the American people. It’s clear that you are carrying out your extremist beliefs,” Warnock said.
Kennedy responded by claiming, without evidence or clarification, that Americans are “the sickest people on earth.” Warnock then told Kennedy, “You are a hazard to the health of the American people. I think that you ought to resign. And if you don’t resign, the president of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should fire you.”
Bipartisan criticism of Kennedy
The exchange between Warnock and Kennedy was part of a hearing that lasted over three hours, as Democratic and Republican senators grilled Kennedy. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., both questioned Kennedy’s firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Susan Monarez, reportedly for refusing to sign off on new vaccine policies that experts warn will undermine public health. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who previously cast a key vote in support of Kennedy during the secretary’s confirmation process, has since become a critic of Kennedy’s vaccine policies. Cassidy, a physician, questioned Kennedy for firing a vaccine advisory board and replacing its members with vaccine skeptics and people with financial interests in undermining vaccine makers.
Trump administration sticks with Kennedy’s controversial performance
Since being tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the agency in charge of regulating public health, Kennedy has controversially promoted vaccine skepticism, limited access to COVID-19 vaccines, pushed out top public health officials and laid off hundreds of staff members at agencies like the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Kennedy’s policies and stances have led to public pushback from employees of agencies under the control of the Department of Health and Human Services. Despite the controversy and opposition to Kennedy from public health experts, the Trump administration continues to defend the secretary. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Kennedy has become a target of Democrats while “the Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
While the Trump administration appears intent on keeping Kennedy, discontent with his performance and agenda seems to grow on both sides of the political aisle. Despite the rhetoric from the White House, Democrats and Republicans have called out Kennedy for undermining transparency, science and the fight against dangerous diseases in ways that could put many Americans at risk.
