The Latest: RFK Jr. appears on Capitol Hill for HHS confirmation hearings
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation hearings began Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee. He appears before the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee on Thursday.
Here's the latest:
Trump, during his campaign, had said his “Salute to America 250” celebration would be “the most spectacular birthday party.”
The order is also expected to revive plans to create a “National Garden of American Heroes” with statues memorializing 250 historical figures. It will commission artists for the first 100.
During his first term, Trump had curated a list of who was to be included — Davy Crockett, Billy Graham, Whitney Houston, Harriet Tubman and Antonin Scalia, among others — but no site was selected and the garden was never funded by Congress.
The longstanding federal law ensures any person who presents at an emergency room in the U.S. is offered stabilizing treatment.
Sen. Cortez Masto asked how Kennedy would enforce that law when it came to pregnant women living in abortion ban states who need the procedure to save their health or life.
Kennedy struggled to answer, finally saying: “I don’t think we have a law enforcement branch at HHS.”
HHS does, in fact, enforce the law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and can levy hefty fines for emergency rooms that don’t comply with it.
Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island didn’t hold back in questioning Kennedy, his former roommate when they both attended the University of Virginia Law School.
They bonded as roommates over a shared love of the outdoors before graduating in 1982.
“Americans are going to need to hear a clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations,” Whitehouse said, including to “never say vaccines aren’t medically safe when they are and making it indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases where that will keep people safe.”
Democrats kicked off Day 2 of protesting Trump’s decision to halt federal assistance programs with a news conference highlighting the “avalanche” of calls they’re receiving from constituents and local leaders in their state about the decision.
As part of their response, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed that protesting certain Trump Cabinet nominees was on the table for his members if the administration did not backtrack on its decision.
Sen. Patty Murray, a top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, also indicated that Trump’s move could affect Democrats’ willingness to come to the table and negotiate with Republicans ahead of the March deadline to fund the government.
While questioning Kennedy, Lankford said Biden’s Food and Drug Administration eliminated requirements that doctors report side effects with the drug in virtually all cases, “unless she dies.”
Mifepristone was first approved in 2000 under a highly restrictive set of regulations that required doctors to report all negative reactions with the drug. That’s different than almost any other medication, where only serious injury and death are required to be reported by doctors.
In 2016, the FDA determined mifepristone was safe enough to be subject to the same safety regime as other drugs. The FDA continues to get reports of both serious and non-serious side effects from the drug’s manufacturer, which is required to regularly submit them to regulators.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada urged Kennedy to recognize that a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act would require emergency rooms to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at stake — a position taken by the Biden administration.
“You will be enforcing EMTALA laws, and it’s important you understand their impact and don’t play politics with the patient presenting at the ER based on a position this administration has taken,” she said.
The order Trump is expected sign Wednesday tells several agencies to repurpose federal money to expand school choice initiatives.
It directs the Education Department to use its discretionary money to prioritize school choice and to issue new guidance to states exploring how to use federal funds for K-12 voucher programs.
It also directs other agencies to find ways to help states and families use federal money for private schooling and other school choice options.
The order says traditional public schools have failed the nation’s students and the Trump administration will reverse course “by opening up opportunities for students to attend the school that best fits their needs.”
The anti-vaccine nonprofit group Kennedy used to lead, Children’s Health Defense, live-streamed it on its website. In a post she made to X, CEO Mary Holland encouraged people to “Listen to history being made.”
Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said the hearing represented a “pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” in a post on X.
She also threatened to personally fund primary challengers to any senator — Democrat or Republican — who votes against Kennedy’s confirmation. Shanahan, who was formerly married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, helped finance Kennedy’s run for president.
“Mr. Kennedy, I’m confused,” she said. “You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is: Do you stand for this value or not? When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump”
In response, Kennedy repeated again that he agrees with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, told Kennedy that “Americans are going to need to hear a clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations,” including to “never say vaccines aren’t medically safe when they are and making it indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases where that will keep people safe.”
“You’re in that hole pretty deep,” Whitehouse said. “We’ve just had a measles case in Rhode Island, the first since 2013, and frankly you frighten people.”
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana questioned Kennedy about his views on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 as a safe and effective way to end early pregnancies, yet access to the drug and its FDA approval has been threatened in legal battles.
“President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” Kennedy said. “He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies.”
Conservative media has been enthusiastic overall for Trump’s first week back in office, but Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal is hitting some brakes.
The Journal has editorialized against Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, called Kennedy “dangerous to public health,” suggested Trump give up trying to end birthright citizenship and said he’s wrong to strip protection of former officials threatened by Iran.
It said Trump showed “remarkably poor judgment” in selling $Trump brand crypto coins and described as “illegal amnesty” his order delaying implementation of a law to shut down TikTok.
The Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel meanwhile explored Monday whether Trump should be carved into Mount Rushmore.
▶ Read more about Trump and the media
“I believe a secure border creates a more secure nation and it’s just common sense,” Fetterman said in a statement, adding that he was elected “to work with both sides of the aisle.”
Once signed into law, the legislation will require federal officials to detain any immigrant in the U.S. illegally who’s arrested or charged with crimes like theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone.
It’s set to be the first piece of legislation signed by Trump this term, who was elected promising a sharp crackdown on illegal immigration to the U.S.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, questioned Kennedy about a fundraising email his campaign sent Monday celebrating Trump’s freeze on many federal health agency communications.
The email came from an address used by Kennedy’s presidential campaign and was labeled as paid for by his candidate committee.
“This pause will prevent unelected bureaucrats from further undermining our health freedom,” the email read. Then it directed recipients to “chip in” to reduce $2 million in Kennedy’s campaign debt. A hyperlink went to a donation webpage.
Kennedy denied his campaign sent the email, saying, “I don’t think my campaign exists anymore, senator.”
“Somebody’s out there soliciting money for it,” Warner said. “Maybe you ought to find out who is.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford questioned Kennedy on how he would approach the family planning program Title X.
The previous Trump administration prohibited Title X grantees from referring clients for abortion services — a policy reversed by President Joe Biden.
“I’m going to support President Trump’s policies on Title X,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy added that he agrees with Trump that “the states should control abortion.”
Reading from podcast transcripts and his own writings, Bennet asked Kennedy about his prior statement that COVID-19 was engineered to target white and Black people while sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
Kennedy responded that he was citing federal research.
Bennet also asked Kennedy about a claim that Lyme disease is “likely a militarily engineered bioweapon.”
“I probably did say that,” Kennedy responded.
“This is a job where it is life and death for the kids that I used to work in Denver public schools and for families all over this country that are suffering,” Bennet said.
He visited the nation as health officials were trying to get the vaccine program back on track after vaccine rates plummeted following the deaths of two children who died when injected with a vaccine that was improperly mixed with a muscle relaxant.
While there, Kennedy met with government officials as well as with anti-vaccine activists, including an anti-vaccine influencer who posted a photograph of herself and Kennedy on her Instagram. She called the meeting “profoundly monumental” for the movement.
A few months later, a measles epidemic broke out, killing 83 people, mostly infants and children in a population of about 200,000.
The program is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. That program, PEPFAR or the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, was started under Republican President George W. Bush but it was part of a Trump administration freeze on foreign spending last week — until apparently getting a reprieve.
A waiver announced Tuesday allowed for the distribution of HIV medicines to resume at least temporarily but its future remains uncertain. If treatment stops, the International AIDS Society says not only will people die but HIV will re-surge, increasing the threat worldwide.
Sen. Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, questioned Kennedy’s shifting views on abortion by quoting his previous statements that abortion should be left up to the pregnant woman, not the government.
“I believe every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy said in response before being cut off by Bennet.
Experts generally agree and have been concerned about this for years, especially rising rates of obesity and diabetes.
About 20% of children and adolescents have obesity and rates of diabetes among children continue to rise between 2% and 5% a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Asked by Sen. John Cornyn about equipping primary care doctors to address addiction and substance abuse, Kennedy spoke about his heroin addiction as a young man.
“This is a priority for me,” said Kennedy, who said he still goes to 12-step meetings daily. “Addicts almost always go through a cycle where there is a moment where they hit periodic bottoms where they’re ready to go into treatment. But it’s fleeting and it’s momentary and we have an opportunity to save their lives.”
Kennedy proposed using Graduate Medical Education funding to help medical school students better understand addiction care.
Sen. Ron Wyden honed in on Kennedy’s work in the island nation of Samoa, where doctors say he and his anti-vaccine allies campaigned against childhood inoculations, leading to a measles epidemic that killed dozens of infants and children.
Kennedy rejected this alleged involvement in the measles outbreak and said he supports measles and polio vaccines.
“I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines,” he said.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon warns Kennedy’s embrace of “conspiracy theories” on vaccines make him unsuitable for the nation’s top health post.
“Peddling these anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as our nation’s chief health officer is going to endanger the lives of kids and seniors across the nation,” Wyden said in his opening statement.
Kennedy has previously said there’s “no vaccine that is safe and effective.”
In further remarks, Wyden warned of the consequences of Kennedy’s proposal to “freeze” federal research on infectious diseases for eight years.
“I’ve reached the conclusion that he should not be entrusted with the health of the American people,” Wyden said.
She was holding a sign that said, “Vaccines save lives.”
The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, responded by saying he could put the committee into recess if the hearing continues to be disrupted.
He told senators he’s not anti-vaccine, but has asked “uncomfortable questions.”
While Kennedy has called vaccines unsafe, in his opening remarks he said all of his children are vaccinated.
“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care,” Kennedy told the committee.
The single protester jumped to her feet and yelled “he lies” when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed he’s not “anti-vaccine.”
Capitol police officers quickly removed the woman from the room, and several others in the hearing room applauded and said, “We love you, Bobby!”
Kennedy’s views on abortion have also drawn criticism from conservatives and anti-abortion groups, including Former Vice President Mike Pence.
Kennedy has been largely quiet on the issue since backing Trump. Still, some conservative U.S. senators, including Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, who sits on the Senate Committee on Finance, said Kennedy is committed to anti-abortion policies after a December meeting.
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, argued that “from abortion to universal health care, Mr. Kennedy has changed his views so often it’s nearly impossible to know where he stands.”
Trump’s decision to tap Kennedy to lead the top health agency has garnered criticism from abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion forces alike. Kennedy supported abortion rights during his presidential bid, though he also voiced support for a national 15-week or 21-week ban in a 2023 interview before a spokesperson said he misheard the question.
To get to the U.S. Senate for a vote of his nomination, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. needs to have two committee hearings, one before the Finance committee on Wednesday and another in front of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee on Thursday.
Oversight of the U.S. Health and Human Services agencies is shared between the two committees. The finance committee is involved because the sprawling $1.7 trillion agency is responsible for a huge part of the nation’s economy — overseeing insurance for nearly half the country, funneling billions of dollars to the states for Medicaid and providing health insurance for the nation’s older Americans through Medicare.
Meanwhile, the HELP committee also has oversight of the agency’s program and agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration.
“Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” they chanted as he came in along with his wife Cheryl Hines.
“We love you, Bobby!” one man also yelled as people held their cellphones aloft to get a photo or video.
Many are Kennedy’s supporters in “Make America Healthy Again” hats, as well as people donning white lab coats.
Kennedy’s two days of hearings on Capitol Hill are drawing plenty of attention, including from senators on both sides of the aisle who’ve said they’ll look to what Kennedy says in the hearings to decide whether to support his confirmation.
Kennedy will be in the finance committee Wednesday and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday.
“I think it’s the right move,” Johnson said.
Johnson weighed in Wednesday during the House Republican annual policy retreat being held at one of Trump’s golf resorts in South Florida.
“The president is thinking outside the box. His team is thinking outside the box,” Johnson told reporters.
Johnson said one estimate has projected that 5% to 10% of the federal workforce “will take their golden parachute.”
“We could save $100 billion for taxpayers just with that downsizing of the size and scope of government,” Johnson asserted.
When Gabbard returned to Washington from the clandestine sit-down with Assad eight years ago this month, she was greeted with a flurry of criticism.
Lawmakers and civil society groups chastised Gabbard, then a Hawaii congresswoman, for her meeting with an avowed U.S. adversary whose administration has been credibly accused of war crimes and major human rights abuses. A Republican congressman even called the meeting a “disgrace.”
At the time, Gabbard defended the trip by saying she had gone to try to find a peaceful resolution to a long and bloody conflict. But the details of what the pair discussed remain a mystery — dogging Gabbard to this day and has taken on new salience as rebels have swept Assad from power and Trump has nominated her to be the nation’s spy chief.
▶ Read more about Tulsi Gabbard’s trip to Syria
Among the details in her letter to senators, Caroline Kennedy described her cousin’s basement, garage and dorm as being centers for drug use, where he would also put baby chickens and mice in blenders to feed to his hawks.
“It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence,” she wrote. She also read the letter in a video recording, sharing it on social media. Attempts to reach Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for comment were not immediately successful.
Kennedy now “preys on the desperation of parents of sick children,” she told senators, noting that he’s vaccinated his own children while discouraging others from vaccinating theirs.
▶ Read more about Caroline Kennedy’s letter
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine advocacy is outside the mainstream. His previous statements on abortion could alienate Republicans. But a new poll finds that not all of his controversial health goals are unpopular.
As Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearings begin Wednesday, his bid to become the nation’s top health official could depend on how staunchly he sticks to these personal beliefs during questioning. He has already softened some of his long-held views.
A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows only about 3 in 10 US adults approve of Trump nominating him to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. About 4 in 10 disapprove, while about one-quarter are either neutral or don’t know enough to say.
▶ Read more about what Americans think of RFK’s views
Pete Hegseth also has ordered the Pentagon’s inspector general to review Milley’s actions while serving as the nation’s top uniformed officer to determine if a demotion is warranted, two defense officials confirmed late Tuesday.
The inspector general review will include “an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding Gen Milley’s conduct so that the Secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination,” said Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot.
“The Secretary informed General Milley today that he is revoking the authorization for his security detail and suspending his security clearance as well,” he said.
Milley served as chairman during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. While the relationship initially went well, it soured deeply and fast, as Milley tried to advise and contain the president on a host of issues.
▶ Read more about Gen. Mark Milley
That’s according to the Department of Defense.
U.S. Northern Command said through a spokesperson Tuesday that immigration authorities will “stage and process criminal aliens” at base facilities that include a temporary holding location. The former bombing range west of Denver is home to Space Force operations including a missiles tracking and warning unit.
The immigration processing facilities will be staffed by ICE senior leaders, special agents, analysts and members of other federal law enforcement agencies.
Aurora last year became a focus of President Donald Trump’s dire warnings about reputed migrant gangs, after a widely viewed video showed showed six armed men entering an apartment shortly before a fatal shooting outside the complex.
It’s unclear how many migrants might pass through the new military-base processing center. A separate, privately operated immigrant detention center at Aurora has the capacity to hold about 1,500 people.
Just a little over a week into his second term, President Donald Trump is taking steps to maximize his power, sparking chaos and what critics contend is a constitutional crisis as he challenges the separation of powers that have defined American government for more than 200 years.
The new administration’s most provocative move came this week, as it announced it would temporarily halt federal payments to ensure they complied with Trump’s orders barring diversity programs. The technical-sounding directive had enormous immediate impact before it was blocked by a federal judge, potentially pulling trillions of dollars from police departments, domestic violence shelters, nutrition services and disaster relief programs that rely on federal grants.
Legal experts noted the president is explicitly forbidden from cutting off spending for programs that Congress has approved.
Democrats and other critics said the move was blatantly unconstitutional.
While some Republicans were critical, most were supportive.
▶ Read more about Trump’s latest moves to expand his power
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said vaccines are not safe. His support for abortion access has made conservatives uncomfortable. And farmers across the Midwest are nervous over his talk of banning corn syrup and pesticides from America’s food supply.
The 71-year-old, whose famous name and family tragedies have put him in the national spotlight since he was a child, has spent years airing his populist — and sometimes extreme — views in podcasts, TV interviews and speeches building his own quixotic brand.
A son of a Democratic political dynasty, Kennedy is seeking to become the nation’s top health official. To get there, he’s softening those long-held beliefs, hoping to win approval from the Republican Party.
At stake is Kennedy’s control of the nation’s sprawling $1.7 trillion U.S. Health and Human Services agency, which oversees food and hospital inspections, health insurance for roughly half of the country and vaccine recommendations.
With a strong resemblance to his father and lawyer credentials to match, he found ardent followers who embrace the critiques he’s lodged against unhealthy foods, pharmaceutical companies and chemicals.
But he couldn’t get Democrats on his side, with some of his relatives shunning him over his vaccine views. His has been a flexible ideological journey, part liberal Democrat, part libertarian, and now, an adherent of the MAGA agenda after dropping out of the race last year to back Trump.
▶ Read more about how RFK Jr’s family and controversial health views
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s famous name, populist stances and loyal following have earned him President Donald Trump’s support, but will that get him the votes he needs from the Republican-controlled Senate to become the nation’s top health official?
If approved, Kennedy will control a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and hospital inspections, hundreds of health clinics, vaccine recommendations and health insurance for roughly half the country.
Here’s what to watch during his confirmation hearings:
1. How will he explain his vaccine views?
2. Watch for overtures to the anti-abortion movement
3. There are Democrats he’s trying to woo, too
4. Will that letter from Caroline Kennedy come up?
▶ Read more about what to watch for in RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearings
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