Overview

• In a contentious three-hour Finance Committee hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended scaling back Covid vaccine recommendations and called fired CDC Director Susan Monarez untrustworthy.
• Kennedy acknowledged Covid vaccines saved “quite a few” lives during a tense exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders, even as he challenged mainstream medical groups and stood by replacing federal vaccine advisors.
• Republican physicians John Barrasso and Bill Cassidy, along with Thom Tillis, pressed Kennedy over CDC turmoil, ACIP changes, and canceled mRNA contracts, with Majority Leader John Thune voicing frustration over Monarez’s ouster.
• Public confidence appears shaky, with new polling showing low trust in Kennedy’s medical advice and concerns that his policies are making vaccines harder to access, while the New York Post editorial board and other commentators excoriated his performance.
• A few Republicans offered support for increased scrutiny of vaccines, with Sen. Roger Marshall giving Kennedy room in the hearing and Sen. Markwayne Mullin later defending his calls for deeper examination on CNN.