Update (1520ET): Well that was actually pretty interesting. As Democrat Senators read prepared zingers to try and corner RFK Jr. over vaccines and other malarkey, Kennedy hit back with several very specific haymakers during the three-hour session – calling the Democratic lawmakers ‘liars’ – and even pointing out the Elizabeth Warren has taken nearly a million dollars from pharmaceutical companies.
Defiant on CDC Firings
At the center of Thursday’s hearing was Kennedy’s surprise decision last week to fire CDC Director Susan Monarez, just a month after she took the job. The move plunged the agency into turmoil, prompting several senior officials to resign.
Kennedy accused Monarez of lying in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published the same morning, in which she claimed she was removed for refusing to “rubber stamp” vaccine recommendations from Kennedy’s advisory committee.
“We are the sickest country in the world, that’s why we have to fire people at CDC,” Kennedy said.
🚨 BOOM!!!!!
WYDEN: Former CDC Dir. Susan Monarez said you told her, ‘Just go along with vaccine recommendations even if they don’t match with science.’ You calling her a LIAR?
RFK: I did not say that to her.
WYDEN: She’s lying?
RFK: Yes.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 4, 2025
Kennedy also defended his June purge of 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, known as ACIP, framing the move as an effort to “depoliticize” the committee. “I didn’t politicize ACIP, I depoliticized it,” he insisted.
Kennedy also said that that leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, were compromised because they accept pharmaceutical industry funding. That prompted an exasperated retort from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT):
“In your eyes, everybody but you is corrupt.”
“Everybody is corrupt but you?”
Sen. Bernie Sanders took aim at RFK Jr.’s statements casting doubt on the integrity of major medical organizations. Kennedy argued they’ve been corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry. https://t.co/0sWdbbdgCM pic.twitter.com/5iDroGiMMm
— ABC News (@ABC) September 4, 2025
Pocahontas Down
During one fiery exchange with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Kennedy said ” know you’ve taken $855K from PHARMA COMPANIES, SENATOR!”
🔥WOAH: Secretary Kennedy just put Elizabeth Warren’s Big Pharma bucks on FULL, PUBLIC DISPLAY!
“I know you’ve taken $855,000 from pharmaceutical companies, Senator!”
That’s gotta hurt. pic.twitter.com/7m1HOVkd2w
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 4, 2025
When I see all these senators trying to lecture and “gotcha” Bobby Kennedy today all I can think is:
You all support off-label, untested, and irreversible hormonal “therapies” for children, mutilating our kids and enriching big pharma. You’re full of shit and everyone knows it.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 4, 2025
Wyden down too!
🔥 Secretary Kennedy just DESTROYED Ron Wyden:
Wyden: “I hope you tell the American people how many preventable child deaths are an acceptable sacrifice.”
RFK: “You’ve sat in that chair for 25 years while the chronic disease in our children went up to 76% and you said nothing” pic.twitter.com/428R7BDN9T
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) September 4, 2025
Julian Down!
🚨 HOLY SHT! Bobby Kennedy is losing his patience with these Pharma-bought buffoons! – “You’re not understanding how the WORLD WORKS!”
SEN. LUJAN (D): Will you commit to sharing protocols used for the autism study with Congress?
RFK: They’re PUBLIC…
LUJAN: Will you commit to… pic.twitter.com/IL0zANmYxC
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 4, 2025
Warning Shot From GOP Leadership
The most striking moment came when Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, warned that Kennedy’s policies risk undermining decades of medical progress. Barrasso, who rarely breaks from his party’s leadership, signaled growing unease within the GOP about Kennedy’s sweeping changes.
“I’ve grown deeply concerned,” Barrasso said, citing both the recent CDC director firing and measles outbreaks. “There are real concerns that safe, proven vaccines like measles, Hepatitis B, and others could be in jeopardy, and that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress.”
Sen. John Barrasso: “I support vaccines. I’m a doctor. Vaccines work. Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearing you promised to uphold the highest standard for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned.” pic.twitter.com/a6j4m4rJi5
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 4, 2025
Trump’s Role Complicates GOP Strategy
Some Republican senators also sought to drive a wedge between Kennedy and President Trump, highlighting the former president’s past praise of Operation Warp Speed – the 2020 initiative to accelerate vaccine development.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for ramping up vaccine production and criticized Kennedy’s decision to cancel $500 million in federal grants for new mRNA vaccine research.
“Canceling those contracts seems like a commentary upon what the president did in Operation Warp Speed,” Cassidy said.
He warned that Kennedy’s limits on federal vaccine funding are already causing confusion for consumers, noting reports of pharmacies unable to provide COVID-19 boosters due to shifting Health and Human Services recommendations.
“I would say effectively we’re denying people the vaccine,” Cassidy said.
Bill Cassidy’s line of questioning was clever — he pressed Kennedy on how he can praise Trump for Operation Warp Speed while at the same time denigrating vaccines.
Here’s the entire exchange. pic.twitter.com/zNatP0m6uy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 4, 2025
Looking Ahead: CDC Vaccine Recommendations
Several senators pressed Kennedy on upcoming decisions by the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, amid fears that broader vaccine recommendations for childhood diseases could be scaled back.
Kennedy offered few details but sought to reassure lawmakers on one point:
“I do not anticipate a change in measles vaccine recommendations,” he said.
Still, uncertainty lingers over how far Kennedy intends to take his overhaul of federal vaccine policy — and how much support he retains within his own party.
This is what an agenda for restoring public trust in HHS looks like – thank you, @SecKennedy https://t.co/VJ4d50QLHb
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 4, 2025
* * *
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testifying before the Senate today on the Trump administration’s health agenda – where he’s expected to face questions over a spate of firings and other leadership changes at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
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