Tempers flared and accusations flew in Washington on September 4, 2025, as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a combative Senate Finance Committee hearing. Kennedy, a controversial figure long associated with anti-vaccine activism, found himself at the center of a political maelstrom as he defended his sweeping overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and radical changes to national vaccine policy. The three-hour session was marked by bitter partisan exchanges, a chorus of calls for his resignation, and deep divisions over the future of America’s public health system.
The hearing came just a week after President Donald Trump’s administration fired CDC director Susan Monarez, who had been appointed less than a month earlier. According to FRANCE 24, Monarez’s ouster plunged the CDC into turmoil, triggering the resignation of four additional senior officials who reportedly opposed Kennedy’s approach to vaccines. In another dramatic move, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing many with individuals skeptical of vaccines. He insisted these steps were “absolutely necessary” to restore credibility to the agency, which he said had failed Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The officials who pushed for school closures and forced masks on children are the ones who will no longer be making those decisions,” Kennedy told lawmakers. “These were essential changes to return the CDC to its mission of protecting people from infectious diseases.” He further described his leadership as “bold, competent, and creative,” arguing that the CDC’s shortcomings during the pandemic justified decisive action. “If we don’t end this chronic disease, we are the sickest country in the world,” Kennedy declared, according to Moneycontrol.
But Democrats on the committee were having none of it. Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, set the tone by demanding Kennedy be sworn in under oath, accusing him of lying in prior testimony when he pledged not to limit vaccine access. “It is in the country’s best interest that Robert Kennedy step down, and if he doesn’t, Donald Trump should fire him before more people are hurt,” Wyden thundered, as reported by AFP and France 24. Republican chairman Mike Crapo rejected the oath request, and the exchanges only grew more ill-tempered from there.
Senator Maria Cantwell called Kennedy a “charlatan” over his attacks on mRNA research, while Kennedy accused Senator Maggie Hassan of “crazy talk” and “making things up to scare people” when she said parents were already struggling to get Covid vaccines for their children. The hearing frequently erupted into shouting matches, reflecting the deep partisan rift over vaccines. “Every day there’s a new decision that puts American families at risk,” Wyden charged. “Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists and grifters to positions where they’re making life-or-death calls about people’s healthcare. He has no business anywhere near this job.”
Monarez, the ousted CDC director, accused Kennedy of a “deliberate effort to weaken America’s public-health system and vaccine protections” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published the same day as the hearing. Kennedy’s explanation for her firing was met with widespread disbelief: “I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No,’” he told senators. Monarez’s lawyers dismissed Kennedy’s claims as “false, and at times, patently ridiculous,” adding she would testify under oath to refute them.
Since taking office, Kennedy has restricted who can receive Covid-19 shots, cut off federal research grants for mRNA technology—a technology credited with saving millions of lives—and announced new research on debunked claims linking vaccines to autism. These moves have drawn fierce criticism from the scientific community and bipartisan concern in Congress. Over 1,000 current and former Health and Human Services staff have signed letters calling for Kennedy’s resignation, warning that his actions politicize science and erode public trust, according to Moneycontrol.
The political battle over vaccines has only intensified. Conservative-leaning Florida announced it would end all immunization requirements, including at schools, while a West Coast alliance of California, Washington, and Oregon said they would form their own vaccine recommendation body to counter Kennedy’s influence at the national level. Vaccines, once a relatively bipartisan public health tool, have become a flashpoint in an ever-deepening partisan battle.
Republicans mostly closed ranks around Kennedy, but there was notable dissent from some GOP physicians. Senator Bill Cassidy, a key supporter of Kennedy’s confirmation and a physician himself, criticized the cancellation of mRNA grants. He pressed Kennedy on whether President Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the program that accelerated Covid vaccine development. Kennedy agreed Trump should have received the prize, but in nearly the same breath, he praised hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin—drugs that have been proven ineffective against Covid-19. Cassidy also cited confusion among medical professionals about vaccine eligibility, noting that “effectively, we’re denying people a vaccine.” Kennedy denied this, stating, “You’re wrong.”
Senator Bernie Sanders also joined the fray, criticizing Kennedy for suggesting that numerous health organizations defending the Covid-19 vaccine were influenced by the drug industry. “Is everybody corrupt but you?” Sanders asked pointedly. “To suggest that every institution—the [American Medical Association], the pediatrics people—is corrupt because they disagree with you is an insult to the American people.”
The controversy comes as the Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of Covid-19 vaccines for people aged 65 and older, as well as for younger individuals with underlying conditions. This move has caused confusion among pharmacies about eligibility, further complicating the public health messaging around vaccination.
Throughout the hearing, Kennedy remained defiant. He denied pressuring Monarez to pre-approve vaccine recommendations and accused her of lying about why she was fired. He also defended his decision to replace the CDC’s advisory panel with vaccine skeptics, arguing it was necessary to restore the agency’s credibility. Senators challenged him on his understanding of Covid-19 death tolls and Medicaid funding concerns, but Kennedy stuck to his narrative that the CDC had failed its mission and that only radical change could restore public trust.
The hearing underscored the profound challenges facing the nation’s public health infrastructure at a time when trust in scientific institutions and government agencies is at a low ebb. With both political parties digging in their heels, the future of vaccine policy and the CDC’s leadership remain uncertain. For now, Kennedy’s fate hangs in the balance as pressure mounts from scientists, lawmakers, and the broader public health community.
As the dust settles from this bruising hearing, one thing is clear: the debate over vaccines and public health leadership in America is far from over, and its outcome will have lasting consequences for the country’s response to both current and future health crises.
