RFK Jr grilled in tense hearing about chaos at federal health agencies and vaccines – live updates | Robert F Kennedy Jr
Key events
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before the senate finance committee displayed some cracks in the administration’s armor, as a few Republicans joined Democrats with pointed questions about his posture toward vaccines – particularly the COVID-19 vaccine – and the firing of former CDC director Susan Monarez.
Kennedy spread vaccine misinformation during his testimony. He argued in defense of a statement made by Dr. Retsef Levi, a new appointee to a key vaccine panel, that mRNA vaccines present a risk of “serious harm, including death, especially among young people.” The scientific consensus today is that mRNA vaccines – including the Covid vaccine – only rarely have side effects and are both effective and safe.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) with a call to put Kennedy under oath, describing his testimony during his confirmation hearing as a lie.
Monarez told the Wall Street Journal that she was asked to pre-approve vaccine recommendations made by a panel now composed entirely of Kennedy allies, some of whom have openly argued against vaccination, after the secretary purged it of its previous expertise, and that her refusal led to her ouster. Kennedy repeatedly called that accusation a lie.
“I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘no’.”
Wyden and several other Democrats called on Kennedy to resign, and for President Donald Trump to fire him if he wouldn’t quit.
Highlights:
“These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency with the central mission of protecting Americans from infectious disease.” The CDC “failed [its] responsibility miserably during Covid when its disastrous, nonsensical policies destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties, closed our schools and caused generational damage in doing so, masked infants with no science and heightened economic inequality,” Kennedy testified. The “unscientific interventions failed to do anything about the disease itself.”
“Kennedy: “We literally did worse than any country in the world,” in preventing COVID-19 deaths “and the people at CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving.”
Kennedy: “It’s chronic disease that’s bankrupting us and destroying our national security.”
Melania Trump welcomed tech leaders to the East Wing of the White House to inaugurate a taskforce on artificial intelligence and education as part of her Presidential AI Challenge. The event concerned how to integrate artificial intelligence into childhood education and devise ways for the government to work more with the private sector.
“It’s a beautiful event today,” Trump said as she kicked off the meeting. “We are living in a world of wonder.”
Trump spoke about how driverless cars now “steer themselves through cities” and drones have become an everyday part of warfare. She said AI is responsible for all of these new technologies. “The robots are here, our future is no longer science fiction.”
Joining the First Lady at the meeting table were Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, Cameron Wilson, the president of Code.org, and Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was also present in the gallery.
Kennedy had not visited CDC before shooting at Atlanta headquarters last month
Warnock earlier pushed Kennedy on the reported motives of the gunman who attacked the CDC headquarters in Atlanta last month, highlighting that the shooter believed that the Covid vaccine had made him ill, and wanted to raise awareness of that issue.
Warnock confirmed that Kennedy had never been to the agency before the shooting, and had not been briefed by any of its scientists about vaccines.
The New York Times notes: “Kennedy did visit the premises after the shooting, but no employees were present. Many CDC employees hold Kennedy directly responsible for the misinformation that may have led to the shooting.”
‘You are a hazard to the health of the American people’: Warnock calls on RFK Jr to resign
Democratic senator Raphael Warnock told Kennedy, “You are a hazard to the health of the American people” and called on him to step down.
“I think that you ought to resign, and if you don’t resign, the president of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should fire you,” he said.
Challenged on his comments blaming school shootings on antidepressants, Kennedy went on the attack again: “I never said that, you’re making stuff up … you’re being dishonest right now.”
Democratic senator Tina Smith, of Minnesota, said they should be talking about mental health and access to guns.
Asked whether he was lying when he told the committee that he wasn’t anti-vaxx or if he was lying when he told Americans that there’s no safe and effective vaccine.
“Both things are true,” said Kennedy.
Republican senator Thom Tillis, who isn’t seeking re-election, also criticized Kennedy over Monarez’s firing, comparing his former praise for her with his recently sacking her.
Tillis said he believed that some of Kennedy’s statements contradicted what he said previously, and asked him for evidence that he has “empowered scientists to do their jobs”.
He added that Kennedy’s prior assertion that he would not impose his own beliefs seemed “contradictory to the firing of a CDC director, the canceling of mRNA research contracts, firing advisory board members, attempting to stall NIH funding”, among other actions.
David Smith
in Washington
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, has condemned Republicans for defunding police even as Donald Trump claims to be cracking down on crime.
The president deployed national guard troops to the streets of Washington last month and is threatening similar measures in Chicago and other Democratic-led cities.
Asked if Washington now feels safer, Jeffries told reporters: “I haven’t seen a difference one way or the other but I spend a lot of time in and around the Capitol.”
Urging support for police departments and local law enforcement, he said: “What we should be doing is giving them the ability to do their jobs with the resources they need to continue to protect and serve.
“Republicans have actually cut funding for local law enforcement. What does that have to do with making communities safe?”
Trump’s hardline approach has set a political trap for Democrats to be seen as soft on crime. But Jeffries added: “We’re going to continue to make clear we’re focused on keeping communities safe all across America and, in my humble opinion, the best way to do that is to support local law enforcement, local police departments and local partnerships between the police and the community.”
Senator Bernie Sanders said he hoped to call Monarez to a hearing.
Kennedy repeats claim that former CDC director lied about being fired
Asked about his firing of Susan Monarez as CDC director, RFK Jr said: “I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘no’.”
This seems to confound Warren, who points out that this is not the account that Monarez has given about her departure.
Kennedy adds that she was “lying” when she said he had fired her because she would not accede to his demands on vaccine policy.
Yelling at Warren now, Kennedy asks: “You want me to indicate a product for which there is no clinical data?” (There is plenty of clinical data around the safety and effectiveness of Covid boosters).
He also falsely claims that “everybody can get access to [the vaccines]” before adding “it depends on the states”.
RFK Jr and senator Warren have tense exchange about Covid boosters
Asked by Elizabeth Warren if all adults and all children in America over the age of 6 months old can get the Covid booster shot at their local pharmacy, RFK Jr said: “Anybody can get the booster.”
Asked if that’s now the official rule of HHS, that anybody can get the shot at their local pharmacy, Kennedy replies (misleadingly): “It’s not recommended for healthy people.”
Challenged that he is effectively denying people vaccines, Warren says he should be honoring his promise he made when he was seeking confirmation for this role – that he wasn’t going to take vaccines away from anyone who wanted them.
RFK Jr falsely claims no cuts to Medicaid under Trump
Kennedy also falsely claimed that “there are no cuts to Medicaid” taking place under the Trump administration.
Deep cuts to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to low-income and disabled Americans, have been one of most contentious aspects of Trump’s signature tax and spending megabill.
Under the legislation, 8.6 million Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, according to a preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
There is now a short recess in the hearing, but earlier Kennedy claimed that the vaccine manufacturers couldn’t produce a study showing that the Covid vaccines were effective for healthy children.
Per the New York Times: “That is incorrect. The companies did indeed test the vaccine in children, although they did so after the shots had been shown to be safe and effective in adults. That is typical for all products given to children.”
David Smith
in Washington
Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer have faced growing criticism for refusing to endorse primary winner Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York.
At a press conference today, a reporter noted that Jeffries had met Mamdani and asked why it is taking so long to support him.
“Stay tuned,” Jeffries said tersely. When the reporter tried to follow up, Jeffries repeated: “Stay tuned.”
Later another journalist had a go at the same subject, asking Jeffries, who represents a New York district, if he is out of step with his party.
The leader replied:
I don’t know. I guess people are going to have to figure that out. If that’s that question you think that my constituents are asking me, because they’re not.
This week the journalist Mehdi Hasan published a column in the Guardian accusing Jeffries of “brazen hypocrisy” over his failure to endorse Mamdani and arguing he Schumer should step down.
Dharna Noor
The attorneys general of Rhode Island and Connecticut will sue the Trump administration over its decision to halt the Revolution Wind project, the two announced this morning.
“This kind of erratic and reckless governing is blatantly illegal, and we’re suing to stop it,” said Connecticut attorney general William Tong in a statement.
Located about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast and 32 miles south-east of the Connecticut coast, Revolution Wind is a joint venture between Danish energy company Ørsted and German wind developer Skyborn Renewables. The project has obtained all necessary federal and state permits, and construction is 80% complete.
Earlier this morning, the companies filed a separate lawsuit in the US district court for the District of Columbia, challenging the stop-work order, saying it was “unlawful” and “issued in bad faith”, and saying it will request a preliminary injunction.
If it comes online, the wind project is expected to deliver enough electricity to the New England grid to power 350,000 homes, supplying 2.5% of the region’s electricity supply beginning in 2026.
The project is also expected to slash Rhode Island’s planet-warming pollution by 11m metric tons, helping the state achieve its stated goal of zeroing out emissions by 2050.
“With Revolution Wind, we have an opportunity to create good-paying jobs for Rhode Islanders, enhance energy reliability, and ensure energy cost savings while protecting our environment,” Rhode Island attorney general Peter F Neronha said in a statement.
Trump’s Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management issued the stop-work order for the project on 22 August. They did not identify any legal violations in doing so, the attorney generals said. violation of law or imminent threat to safety. Rather, they said, the order “abstractly” cites unspecified “concerns”.
