HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared at a congressional hearing to testify for his department’s 2026 budget request. When questioned, Sec. Kennedy experienced criticism from Democrats and simple questions from Republicans.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce, opened up the hearing. In his opening statement, he discussed the state of health in the U.S and emphasized that costs increase while health worsens.
Ranking member Rep. Diana Degette (D) opened by emphasizing the importance of federally funded research. She pivoted to DOGE and criticized it for cutting so much research.
Chairman of the main committee, Rep. Brett Guthrie (R), outlined the potential that HHS has to enhance medicine. He warned that the budget had ballooned and needed to be scaled back.
Ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone’s (D) opening statement consisted of attacks on the Trump administration and Sec. Kennedy for their ‘anti-science’ practices.
When Sec. Kennedy made his opening statement, he reaffirmed his commitment to promises made on the campaign trail. He is resolved to tackle the chronic disease epidemic and wasteful spending.
Kennedy also committed to equipping the FDA with tools to regulate and improve food and to end gain-of-function research.
Rep. Carter began the questioning by asking how the Secretary plans on streamlining the HHS. Kennedy’s answer consisted of ways to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
Rep. Degette asked about unanswered letters her team had sent and the layoff policy. Kennedy didn’t commit to answering the letters and confirmed his approval for the layoffs.
Rep. Guthrie asked about the reduction of force and how the HHS will improve its technology. Kennedy said he was under court order not to discuss the reduction of force and that the HHS is using AI to streamline its function.
Rep. Pallone interrogated Kennedy over unanswered letters as well, and he pointed out that the Department has received thousands of inquiries. For that, he couldn’t commit to when they would be answered.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) asked about regenerative care and direct primary care. Kennedy stated that the HHS was committed to funding and enhancing the research into those subjects.
Finally, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) demanded answers over funding directed towards for-profit health insurance companies. Ocasio-Cortez wanted to know why Kennedy would fund these entities in light of frequent corruption. Kennedy denied this to be the case, and Ocasio-Cortez offered to transfer the evidence.
