By Anita Hamilton

In a heated grilling by members of the Senate Finance Committee, Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the shake-up at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while reiterating his drive to lower the rate of chronic disease in America.

After RFK Jr. fired all members of a CDC advisory panel on vaccines in June, President Donald Trump fired the agency's director last week. On Thursday, RFK Jr. said the shake-up was "absolutely necessary" due to conflicts of interest. He added that the CDC "failed Americans miserably during Covid."

Top Democrats on the committee criticized the health secretary for creating confusion on vaccines right as the school year begins, including narrower Covid vaccine approvals announced in August.

"America is in the midst of a healthcare calamity," ranking member Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said. "Robert Kennedy's primary purpose is to take vaccines away from Americans."

"You're not following the science," added Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington.

Kennedy also cast doubt on the number of Americans who died from Covid. When asked by Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, if he believed that a million people in the U.S. had died from Covid, Kennedy said, "I don't think anybody knows."

Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com

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September 04, 2025 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)

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