Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify to a Senate panel on Sept. 4, according to the panel’s chairman.
Kennedy will appear in Washington before the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the chairman, said on Aug. 28.
“Secretary Kennedy has placed addressing the underlying causes of chronic diseases at the forefront of this Administration’s health care agenda,” Crapo said in a statement. “I look forward to learning more about the Department of Health and Human Services’ Make America Healthy Again actions to date and plans moving forward.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the panel’s ranking member, said in a statement that “after the mass firings and resignations of respected senior scientists and public servants at CDC over the last 24 hours, it is more imperative than ever that Kennedy answer to the public and their representatives about the chaos, confusion, and harm his actions are inflicting on American families.”
Kennedy, who last appeared before the committee in January, as senators were considering whether to vote to confirm him, will testify days after the firing of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and subsequent resignations by several other top CDC officials.
The White House said President Donald Trump fired Susan Monarez, who had been the CDC’s director, because she was not aligned with the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Lawyers for Monarez said she was told to sign off on “unscientific, reckless directives” and fire some employees.
Drs. Demetre Daskalakis, Debra Houry, and Daniel Jernigan said they resigned because they disagreed with recent actions, including what was described as the Department of Health and Human Services’ refusal to publish certain documents about vaccines online.
“There’s a lot of trouble at CDC, and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term in order for us to change the institutional culture and bring back pride and self-esteem and make that agency the stellar agency that it’s always been,” Kennedy told an unrelated press conference in Texas this week.
Other Senators
Leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) have said they want answers on the resignations and the ouster of Monarez, who was just sworn in on July 31 after being the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate under a new law.
“These high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chairman of the committee, wrote on X.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the panel’s ranking member, said on X that Kennedy and Monarez should both appear before the committee. He also called for a bipartisan congressional investigation into the firing of Monarez.
Kennedy is “pushing out scientific leaders who refuse to act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous conspiracy theories and manipulate science,” Sanders said in a letter to Cassidy on Thursday.
Kennedy last appeared before the HELP committee in May, clashing with senators over his stance on vaccines.
His most recent appearance before a congressional panel was on June 24, when he testified to a House of Representatives committee.
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