Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced tough questions on vaccine policy and deep staff cuts at federal health agencies in a pair of House hearings Thursday that marked his first appearance before Congress in more than six months.
The big picture: Kennedy doubled down on some of his most controversial moves, but also gave some ground, acknowledging at one point that the measles vaccine could have saved the life of a child who died in an outbreak in Texas last year.
Driving the news: Democrats on the Ways and Means and Appropriations committees repeatedly pressed Kennedy on the surge in measles cases across the country and tried to tie them to his vaccine criticism.
- "The anti-vaccine rhetoric you ran on and the anti-vaccine actions you have taken over the last year clearly correlates with the dramatic increases," said Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.).
- Kennedy shot back that she was repeating "misinformation," arguing there is a "global measles epidemic" and that the U.S. is faring better than Mexico and Canada.
- Still, he said "it's possible, certainly," when Sánchez asked if the measles vaccine could have saved the life of the Texas child.
- Asked later if the measles vaccine is safe and effective, Kennedy replied, "yes, it's safe for most people."
Between the lines: Kennedy didn't mention vaccines in his prepared remarks, instead touting less controversial moves on healthy foods and lowering drug prices.
- But pressed by Democrats, he defended some policy changes.
- Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) faulted the Centers for Disease Control for scrapping a recommendation that all newborns receive the Hepatitis B vaccine, saying it was an "incredibly harmful thing to our community."
- "Parents can assess the risk themselves through informed consent," Kennedy said in response.
The intrigue: Republicans were less confrontational, but Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) asked about reports of "mismanagement and bungled drug reviews" at the Food and Drug Administration, and whether they were chilling biomedical innovation.
- Kennedy defended the agency and Commissioner Marty Makary, arguing it is speeding up drug review times and meeting all its review deadlines. He suggested critics were captive to pharmaceutical interests.
- "Everybody goes after him because the industry's so powerful," he said of Makary. "They own Congress, they own the media and they can beat up Marty Makary because he's trying to do change over there."
- Pressed whether CDC would hire back certain employees placed on administrative leave, Kennedy deferred to the agency's new leadership team that President Trump announced on Thursday.
Kennedy said his department is adding staff. After falling from 82,000 to 62,000 employees last year, it is now up to 72,000 and plans to bring on 12,000 more, he said.
- "We will have made up for all the employees that we lost," he added.
What we're watching: There could be more friction ahead after Kennedy said he plans to overhaul and put new members on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the expert panel that makes recommendations for services that insurers must cover fully under the Affordable Care Act.
