Overview
- Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed said on Nov. 5 that he will investigate HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over staffing decisions at the CDC and FDA that he says weakened outbreak response.
- El-Sayed tied the planned probe to the summer cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 20,000 people nationwide and caused Michigan to report over 15,000 cases.
- Public-health traceback linked the outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexico and prompted a July recall by Taylor Farms de Mexico.
- RFK Jr. has denied that cuts to surveillance programs hampered the response and said surveillance was not cut even as CDC’s FoodNet was trimmed in 2025 and cyclospora was removed from mandatory reporting.
- With Democrats winning the Senate and committee gavels on Nov. 3, El-Sayed can press for oversight, subpoenas, tougher scrutiny of nominees, and policy fixes that could restore disease tracking and food-safety staffing.