RFK Jr. Just Survived Four Days of Congressional Hearings. Barely.
The big picture: RFK Jr. sat through seven separate congressional hearings over four days and got absolutely shredded. His own CDC just buried a study showing COVID vaccines cut ER visits by 50% and hospitalizations by 55%. A Republican senator fact-checked him in real time. He told Elizabeth Warren that $600 to $10 is a “600% decrease.” And his own White House is reportedly telling him to stop talking about vaccines.
Why it matters: The Secretary of Health and Human Services oversees Medicaid, Medicare, the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH. This week revealed an official whose own agency is burying his decisions, whose own party is fact-checking him publicly, and whose own White House is quietly sidelining him.
The CDC study that got buried
A CDC study conducted by the agency’s own scientists showed COVID vaccines cut ER visits by 50% and hospitalizations by 55%. It was scheduled for publication last month. RFK’s team shelved it, claiming methodology concerns — BUT experts say the methodology is standard AND that canceling a publication after it’s cleared scientific review is deeply unusual. RFK’s acting CDC head, Jay Bhattacharya, reportedly asked the authors to change the study’s design. They refused.
Republican fact-check
RFK claimed 20th-century mortality drops were due to hygiene and sanitation, not vaccines, and cited two studies. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy did his own research during the hearing, came back, and publicly corrected him on the floor.
The Medicaid “not-cuts”
RFK flatly denied Medicaid cuts were in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Technically, Medicaid spending will still increase — BUT it’ll increase $665 billion to $1 trillion less than it otherwise would have over the next decade. And 7.5 million people are projected to lose Medicaid coverage by 2034 per the CBO.
The math moment
Asked by Elizabeth Warren about Trump’s drug price claims, RFK defended the number “600% decrease” for a price going from $600 to $10. That’s actually a 98.33% decrease. There is no alternative calculation. Arithmetic doesn’t negotiate.
The tightrope
Trying not to upset his MAHA base OR Trump, RFK waffled or backtracked repeatedly. He endorsed the measles vaccine but downplayed the disease. He defended glyphosate — the pesticide he personally sued Monsanto over — as necessary for food production AND national security, after Trump granted Monsanto immunity from liability.
The White House is sidelining him
The White House is reportedly pushing RFK to talk less about vaccines and more about healthy eating ahead of the midterms, because the polling on his anti-vax agenda is bad even among Republicans. Trump just nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz — who supports vaccines — to lead the CDC. RFK said he supports her nomination but refused to commit to accepting her vaccine decisions.
By the numbers
4 — days of congressional hearings
7 — separate hearings
50% / 55% — drop in COVID ER visits and hospitalizations from the shelved CDC study
7.5 million — projected Medicaid coverage loss by 2034
$665B–$1T — reduction in Medicaid spending over the next decade
98.33% — the actual decrease from $600 to $10 (not 600%)
The bottom line
The Secretary of Health and Human Services spent the week getting fact-checked by his own party, publicly failing basic math, and watching his own CDC bury his preferred narrative. And his own White House is already maneuvering around him. This is the person running American health policy.
Thanks for reading! Comment your thoughts & reactions | Share to spread the word | Follow to stay in the loop