RFK Jr.'s showdown with the Senate

小里夫·肯尼迪与参议院的对抗

Post Reports

2025-09-05

20 分钟
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The sparks flew in Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing.  Senators – Republicans and Democrats alike – grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his handling of vaccines and the shakeup at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kennedy, for his part, doubled down on his ouster of CDC director Susan Monarez, claiming she was not “trustworthy.” He insisted that Americans would still be able to access coronavirus vaccines, despite his overhauling of a key vaccine panel.  Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with health reporter David Ovalle about the fireworks at Kennedy’s hearing before the Senate. Plus, they discuss what’s happening with diverging school vaccine policies in red and blue states.  Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and mixed by Sam Bair.  Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
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  • Thank you, Chairman Crapo, and thank you, Ranking Member Wyden,

  • for the invitation to be here before the committee today.

  • This morning on Capitol Hill, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee.

  • He was there to answer questions about his overhauling of the nation's largest health agency,

  • the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS.

  • Under President Trump's leadership,

  • we at HHS are enacting a once-in-a-generation shift from a sick care system to a true healthcare system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease.

  • RFK Jr.'s tenure has been mired in controversy.

  • Since he took office in February,

  • he's pursued an agenda based on the growing Make America Healthy Again movement.

  • He has restructured departments, cut staff, and most recently,

  • upended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

  • We are the sickest country in the world.

  • That's why we have to fire people at CDC.

  • They did not do their job.

  • This was their job to keep us healthy.

  • The White House recently fired its newly appointed director,

  • Susan Manaras, who then accused RFK Jr. of,

  • quote,

  • weaponizing public health for political gain and restricting access to vaccines despite the scientific evidence.