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yesterday

Pressure Builds on HHS Secretary RFK Jr. After Senate Firestorm as Trump Signals Support

Mounting criticism cites vaccine access confusion plus a destabilized CDC as evidence of unfitness.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. The committee met to hear testimony on President Trump's 2026 health care agenda.
A pharmacy in the Brooklyn borough of New York advertises Covid-19 testing and vaccine does on September 4.
Demonstrators rally against the Trump administration's health care policies in front of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 10.
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Overview

  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces escalating resignation demands from Senate Democrats, public health experts, and more than 1,000 current and former HHS staff following his testimony.
  • Family pressure intensified as nephew Joe Kennedy III and sister Kerry Kennedy publicly urged him to step down, calling his leadership a threat to public health.
  • Vaccine policy turmoil has produced real‑world effects, with pharmacies in at least 16 states limiting or pausing COVID‑19 shots after confusing HHS guidance, and CVS and Walgreens citing the current regulatory environment.
  • Kennedy removed CDC Director Susan Monarez and overhauled the vaccine advisory panel, moves paired with cuts of nearly $500 million to mRNA research that drew sharp criticism from medical leaders.
  • President Trump described Kennedy as a different thinker while reaffirming that many vaccines work, as GOP voices split with Sen. Roger Marshall defending the shake‑up and others, plus Bill Maher, calling for Kennedy’s exit; Florida’s new ban on all school vaccine mandates drew Trump’s caution.