RFK Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill about CDC leadership changes, citing his father’s words on progress and change while facing criticism from Democrats.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited his father, Robert Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and senator from New York, while testifying on Capitol Hill about backlash over the Trump administration’s efforts to reform the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) head signaled a dramatic course-correction at the CDC several days before the hearing, which came amid reports of the administration’s decision to fire CDC Director Susan Monarez. Monarez’s firing spurred backlash among Democrats who complained that the administration’s efforts to reform the CDC, including through staff and budget cuts, were politicizing public health and undermining scientific integrity.
«The people at the CDC who oversaw [the COVID-19 mitigation] process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving», Kennedy said during his opening remarks, shortly after the hearing was briefly interrupted by a heckler. «That’s why we need bold, competent, and creative new leadership at CDC. People who are able to and willing to chart a new course.»
«As my father once said, ‘Progress is a nice word, but change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.'» The health secretary, who is also the nephew of former President John F.
