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2d ago

Pressure Mounts on HHS Chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. After Senate Clash as Trump Offers Guarded Support

New York orders broad pharmacy access after federal guidance narrowed eligibility.

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.
A person wears a "Make America Healthy Again" t-shirt as they attend a confirmation hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services, on January 29.

Overview

  • Joe Kennedy III and Kerry Kennedy publicly urged their relative to resign, echoing an open letter from more than 1,000 current and former HHS employees demanding his ouster.
  • Senior Republicans including Sens. John Barrasso and Bill Cassidy criticized Kennedy’s vaccine moves during and after a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing, while Sen. Roger Marshall defended him as a CDC “disruptor.”
  • President Trump praised vaccines and cautioned against blanket rollbacks of mandates, yet continued to describe Kennedy as a “different” thinker whose views he wants to hear.
  • Operational fallout grew as pharmacies in numerous states restricted COVID-19 shots without prescriptions following narrowed federal recommendations, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to authorize pharmacist prescribing statewide for 30 days.
  • Kennedy’s overhaul has included ousting CDC Director Susan Monarez, prompting senior resignations, replacing the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, and canceling roughly $500 million in mRNA research funding.