Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, faced over three hours of questioning at a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that covered everything from the shocking errors in his first major health report to his complete ignorance of federal lawsuits against major health insurance companies. But one of the standout moments during the hearing occurred when Kennedy suggested that a sitting member of Congress only opposed the health secretary’s actions because he was bought and paid for by the big pharmaceutical companies.
Kennedy made his name as an anti-vaccine extremist and has purged the CDC, NIH, and FDA of top advisors who believe in vaccines, including the entire CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Kennedy was asked Tuesday by Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, why he had avoided getting any public input on his drastic decisions about vaccines, and the health secretary defended his actions by saying there was already a committee that oversees these things. Pallone pointed out that Kennedy had fired the committee.
PALLONE: With regard to vaccines, are you just afraid to receive public comments on proposals? There’s been no public process RFK JR: We have a public process for regulating vaccines. It’s called the ACIP committee. PALLONE: You fired the committee! [image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 24, 2025 at 8:12 AM
But it was after Pallone’s time had officially expired that the real drama of the hearing would begin. The chairman of the committee moved on to a more MAHA-friendly member of Congress, Rep. Neal Dunn, a Republican from Florida. And as Kennedy started to respond to Dunn’s softball question, he would quickly move on to address Pallone, an unusual move that’s not typically permitted under the rules.
Kennedy said that Pallone had previously been a champion of people who had been harmed by vaccines and only changed his tune after receiving money from the pharmaceutical industry.
“If I can take a minute just to respond to something that Congressman Pallone said, and I’ll address you, Congressman Pallone,” Kennedy said. “Fifteen years ago, you and I met; you were at that time a champion, for people who had suffered injuries from vaccines. You were very adamant about it, you were the leading member of Congress on that issue.”
Kennedy then moved on to the money part, and the fireworks started.
“Since then, you’ve accepted $2 million from pharmaceutical companies in contributions, more than any other member of this committee,” Kennedy said. “And your enthusiasm for supporting the old ACIP committee, which was completely rife and pervasive with pharmaceutical conflicts, seems to be an outcome of those contributions.”
One of Pallone’s fellow members of Congress objected because Pallone apparently didn’t hear what was being said about him. Once it was explained to the chairman that he was impugning the reputation of a member of Congress, Kennedy was asked to retract his statement. Kennedy only did so with a smirk.
There were many other moments from the hearing that were jaw-dropping, as Kennedy often insisted he wasn’t actually cutting programs that he had indeed cut. Other times, Kennedy defended the cuts with incredibly bad logic. For example, Kennedy was asked by Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana about why he’d cut funding for studies on an HIV vaccine. The secretary had the gall to insist it was because a vaccine for HIV had been promised for decades without results.
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