Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, faced criticism this week during a Senate hearing, only to be followed by family members and Trump’s former surgeon general joining lawmakers in demanding his resignation. 

Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, his nephew, former Congressman Joe Kennedy III, and Trump’s former Surgeon General Jerome Adams have all publicly called on him to step down, citing his pattern of spreading misinformation and undermining public trust in American health institutions.

“The challenges before us—from disease outbreaks to mental health crises—demand moral clarity, scientific expertise, and leadership rooted in fact,” Joe Kennedy III said. “Those values are not present in the Secretary’s office. He must resign”.

Kennedy’s hearing, which came after Kennedy fired CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez only a month after being confirmed, was marked by exchanges where senators accused Kennedy of gaslighting the committee with misleading claims about vaccines, COVID policies, and his own record. 

Senators pressed him repeatedly about his removal of top scientists from critical advisory panels, his reshaping of vaccine guidelines, and his tendency to dismiss credible medical organizations as “corrupt” or “conflicted.” At one point, Senator Ron Wyden accused him directly of “lying to the Senate Finance Committee about hugely important questions like vaccines.”

Since taking office, Kennedy has instituted sweeping changes across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In June, he fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group responsible for shaping vaccine recommendations. The scientists were replaced with vaccine skeptics and individuals tied to lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.

This move was condemned by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which warned that children’s health is being politicized at the expense of science.

Kennedy has also rolled back access to COVID-19 vaccines, limiting eligibility for boosters to those over 65 despite earlier promises not to restrict availability. Critics say this change effectively blocks younger, healthy Americans from obtaining vaccines at local pharmacies or through insurance coverage. At the same time, he canceled $500 million in vaccine research funding at the Veterans Administration, raising concerns about America’s preparedness for future pandemics.

In one of the hearing’s most striking moments, Kennedy praised President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, agreeing that Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for rapidly developing COVID-19 vaccines. However, senators quickly highlighted the contradiction between this praise and Kennedy’s actions to cut $500 million in mRNA vaccine research and restrict access to the very vaccines produced by the program.

“It just seems inconsistent that you would agree with me that the president deserves tremendous amount of credit for this,” Cassidy remarked, noting Kennedy’s previous legal challenges to COVID vaccine access. Kennedy defended Operation Warp Speed as “genius” while simultaneously maintaining his criticism of mRNA vaccine safety, creating a striking disconnect that senators from both parties seized upon.

In one of the hearing’s most striking moments, Kennedy praised President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, agreeing that Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for rapidly developing COVID-19 vaccines. However, senators quickly highlighted the contradiction between this praise and Kennedy’s actions to cut $500 million in mRNA vaccine research and restrict access to the very vaccines produced by the program.

“It just seems inconsistent that you would agree with me that the president deserves tremendous amount of credit for this,” Cassidy remarked, noting Kennedy’s previous legal challenges to COVID vaccine access. Kennedy defended Operation Warp Speed as “genius” while simultaneously maintaining his criticism of mRNA vaccine safety, creating a striking disconnect that senators from both parties seized upon.

Throughout the hearing, Kennedy made controversial statements that drew immediate fact-checking. He claimed there was “no clinical data” supporting COVID vaccine recommendations for healthy people and refused to acknowledge that more than one million Americans had died from COVID-19. When pressed about vaccine efficacy and death toll data, Kennedy argued the CDC’s information was unreliable due to “data chaos.”

Kennedy also reiterated discredited claims linking vaccines to autism, specifically stating that Black boys receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine face heightened autism risk. Like much of what Kennedy says, this claim is based on retracted, manipulated data.

Beyond vaccines, Kennedy has threatened physicians who deviate from his department’s new guidelines and forced out senior CDC officials who resisted his directives. 

In a 3-hour hearing that was supposed to focus on Trump’s healthcare agenda, Kennedy claimed he fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after asking her if she was a “trustworthy person,” to which he alleges she responded “no”. This directly contradicted Monarez’s account published in The Wall Street Journal that morning, where she claimed Kennedy had demanded she “pre-approve” vaccine recommendations from his newly installed advisory panel filled with vaccine skeptics.

The firing triggered a cascade of resignations among senior CDC officials, including the chief medical officer, director of immunization, and director of emerging diseases.

Lawmakers and medical leaders warn that Kennedy’s policies could weaken America’s public health infrastructure for decades. By sidelining experts and undermining trusted medical institutions, critics argue, his agenda risks lowering vaccination rates, exacerbating chronic disease, and eroding public confidence in science-based health policy.

“During his confirmation process, he claimed to be pro-safety and pro-science, but his actions reveal a steadfast commitment to elevating junk science and fringe conspiracies,” said Senator Ron Wyden, the committee’s ranking Democrat. Even Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who had been instrumental in Kennedy’s confirmation, expressed concern: “We’re denying people access to vaccines.”

Kennedy, however, defended his decisions as necessary to “depoliticize science,” casting himself as a reformer against entrenched pharmaceutical interests. But senators on both sides of the aisle rejected that framing, noting that his tenure has instead fueled chaos, confusion, and deep mistrust among American families.

While the future of organizations like the CDC and NIH remain unknown under the Trump administration, states are beginning to chart their own path. The governors of Oregon, Washington, and California announced that they are forming a regional health organization that will align policies with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, rather than HHS under Kennedy. 

Lawmakers in several Northeastern states have expressed interest in exploring similar partnerships if federal credibility continues to erode. The creation of such alliances could deepen divisions in national health policy, leaving Americans with uneven access to vaccines, maternal health care, and pediatric standards depending on where they live.

Despite the bipartisan criticism and family pressure, President Trump stood firmly behind Kennedy following the hearing. Speaking to reporters Thursday evening, Trump said he “heard [Kennedy] did very well today” and praised his unconventional approach.

“I like the fact that he’s different,” Trump said. The president characterized Kennedy’s positions as “a tough stance” while maintaining that Operation Warp Speed was “one of the greatest achievements ever.”