Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, following a week of significant turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The hearing, which will take place on Capitol Hill, is expected to focus on the recent firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and the broader controversy surrounding the agency’s leadership under Kennedy’s oversight. The Senate Finance Committee, which has authority over the Department of Health and Human Services, will also address President Donald Trump’s health care agenda, known as the Make America Healthy Again initiative. While the committee does not directly oversee the CDC, its members will likely press Kennedy on the recent upheaval at the agency, including the abrupt departure of several senior officials and the restructuring of the agency’s advisory panels.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a member of the Finance Committee, has indicated that Kennedy will face “hard questions” from lawmakers, particularly regarding the firing of Monarez, who was confirmed by the Senate less than a month before her ouster. Thune emphasized the importance of verifying the qualifications of officials appointed to the CDC, stating, “He’s got to take responsibility… we confirm these people.” This sentiment was echoed by Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the Senate Health Committee and played a key role in securing Kennedy’s position in the Trump administration. Cassidy has demanded that the federal government’s vaccine advisory panel, which was restructured under Kennedy’s leadership, delay its upcoming September meeting until “significant oversight” is conducted by the committee, asserting that any recommendations made in the interim should be treated as “illegitimate” due to the lack of scientific credibility in the current advisory group.
Cassidy has reportedly been working on a plan for the oversight measures that will be applied to the CDC and its advisory panels. In a recent statement, he expressed his support for Kennedy and Trump’s commitment to “radical transparency” but stressed that his primary concerns revolve around children’s health. “It isn’t about R versus D. It isn’t about, you know, internecine fights within the Republican Party. It is about children and grandchildren, and will they die or be at risk of dying from vaccine-preventable disease,” he said. Cassidy also raised concerns about the integrity of the scientific process, noting that members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are supposed to receive materials for review before making recommendations. He questioned where that information would come from, given the recent departures of senior CDC officials, and emphasized that the advisory panel should be based on sound scientific principles rather than political appointees.
Meanwhile, Kennedy has defended his actions at the CDC in a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, arguing that President Trump has entrusted him with restoring public trust in the agency. In his article, Kennedy claimed that steps have already been taken to “eliminate conflicts of interest and bureaucratic complacency” at the CDC, and that leaders who “resisted reform” have been replaced. He emphasized that the agency’s “core mission” is to focus on infectious disease policy and that the changes have been implemented to ensure transparency and scientific integrity. Kennedy also noted that most CDC staff are “honest public servants” who can now operate without political interference, and that the agency will once again become the global authority on public health policy.
Despite Kennedy’s defense, the controversy surrounding his leadership of the CDC and HHS has sparked criticism from various quarters of the political spectrum. Previous CDC directors have accused Kennedy of endangering public health, as noted in a recent New York Times essay. Additionally, Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., another member of the Senate Finance Committee, has stated that his questioning will focus on the safety of the abortion drug Mifepristone, though he acknowledged that the controversy over Kennedy’s leadership is a legitimate area of inquiry. Fox News Digital reached out to the HHS for comment, but no official statement had been released by the time of the report.