Health and Human Services Secretary Robert K. Kennedy Jr. is appearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday amid calls for his resignation.
Kennedy has faced criticism, both from within HHS as well as the medical community, for the firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and for reducing access to COVID-19 vaccines.
In an op-ed published Thursday morning in the Wall Street Journal, Monarez claimed that Kenned told her to "preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric."
During his testimony on Thursday, Kennedy called Monarez a liar.
"I did not say that to her," Kennedy said.
Earlier this year, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the previous committee. Kennedy's announced replacements were criticized for lacking expertise on vaccines and public health.
Earlier this week, nine former heads of the CDC wrote an op-ed in the New York Times calling Kennedy's views on public health "dangerous." That was followed by a letter sent to members of Congress from over 1,000 employees of HHS calling for Kennedy's firing.
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Thursday's hearing is focused on President Donald Trump's health care agenda.
Democrats are expected to grill Kennedy on Monarez's firing.
"It is more imperative than ever that Kennedy answer to the public and their representatives about the chaos, confusion, and harm his actions are inflicting on American families,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “Contrary to his promises of radical transparency, federal health agencies have been shrouded in secrecy and misinformation with no accountability to the public or Congress. Amid the largest cuts to American health care in history, Kennedy’s radical secrecy is setting up the nation for a health calamity.”
As a protester disrupted Thursday's hearing, Kennedy defended his actions.
"We have been the busiest most proactive administration in HHS history," he said.
Kennedy pointed to new regulations involving artificial colors in food, fluoride in public drinking water, electronic cigarettes, and tianeptine. But some of his policies, such as fluoride in drinking water, have drawn criticism.
Many medical groups have objected to the CDC eliminating recommendations for adding fluoride to drinking water, saying the chemical is safe and effective at reducing cavities.
