Health and Human Services Secretary Robert K. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday amid calls for his resignation.
Kennedy has faced criticism, both from within HHS as well as the medical community, for the firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and for reducing access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Earlier this week, nine former heads of the CDC wrote an op-ed in the New York Times calling Kennedy's views on public health "dangerous." That was followed by a letter sent to members of Congress from over 1,000 employees of HHS calling for Kennedy's firing.
Thursday's hearing will be focused on President Donald Trump's health care agenda.
Democrats are expected to grill Kennedy on Monarez's firing.
"It is more imperative than ever that Kennedy answer to the public and their representatives about the chaos, confusion, and harm his actions are inflicting on American families,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “Contrary to his promises of radical transparency, federal health agencies have been shrouded in secrecy and misinformation with no accountability to the public or Congress. Amid the largest cuts to American health care in history, Kennedy’s radical secrecy is setting up the nation for a health calamity.”
