Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his reorganization of the agency and the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget that cuts funding by 25% during a hearing Tuesday of the House Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee.
Democrats on the panel hammered Kennedy on his policies and personnel moves, including proposed cuts in the HHS FY2026 budget, the administration's termination of public health and research grants and changes to the Medicaid program in the "big, beautiful" reconciliation package
The HHS discretionary budget for fiscal 2026 would be nearly $95 billion, a $32 billion decrease amounting to a one-fourth slashing.
HHS leadership argues the reorg and dramatic funding changes are necessary to revive a country overtaken by chronic disease and rising healthcare costs.
In the proposed budget outline, the administration reiterated its desire to ax funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $18 billion to $27.5 billion. Internally, the NIH will have just eight institutes or centers, and even the centers that will not get consolidated will see diminished funding levels.
The proposed budget subtracts $3.5 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration would also face steep cuts, with its funding reduced by $409 million.
Kennedy and Republicans on the panel said the cuts and reorganization were necessary to streamline the functions of HHS and rein in federal spending.
The United States spends $4.5 trillion annually on healthcare, two to three times more per capita to comparable nations, Kennedy noted. Healthcare costs are steadily increasing at a rate of 2% greater than the economy.
"This is unsustainable," Kennedy told lawmakers on the E&C Health subcommittee Tuesday. "Clearly, something is structurally wrong with our approach."
"We committed to delivering more efficient, responsive and effective service to over 100 million Americans who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and other HHS programs. To achieve these goals, while cutting costs for taxpayers, we intend to do more, a lot more, with less," Kennedy said.
"Throwing money at this agency has not worked. We need to realign the agency. We need to recalibrate its trajectory so that it transforms our healthcare system from a sick care system into a healthcare system," Kennedy told lawmakers.
HHS' reorganization will consolidate programs to better tackle mental health and addiction, he told lawmakers. Other priorities under the Trump administration include equipping the FDA to expand its food safety efforts and tackling chronic diseases with $500 million allocated to the Make America Healthy Again Initiative.
Democrats on the panel said the drastic proposed cuts to health agencies -- 54% cut to the CDC, a 40% cut to NIH and an 11% cut to the FDA -- comes on the heels of the Trump administration's unprecedented changes to the federal workforce and public health, including mass firings, the cancellation or pausing of funding grants and elimination of entire agencies within HHS.
"Entire offices and centers have been eliminated because there is no staff left to run them. Grantees and stakeholders can’t get answers to their basic program questions. Staff at FDA and CDC have had to be brought back just to keep programs running, and deadlines at FDA are being missed. These decisions have been made indiscriminately, without any regard for their impact on the health and well-being of the American people," Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) said.
A federal court issued an injunction halting President Trump's executive order directing large-scale reductions in force (RIFs) at HHS and other federal agencies.
In response to a question by Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Kennedy said once the injunction is lifted, HHS will make decisions on how to move forward.
"In some cases, there have been gaps in our ability to perform our duties. I've brought people back. I've brought 722 people back to CDC. I brought 220 people back to NIH because we were not able to perform our job," Kennedy said.
He asserted many of the workforce reductions addressed "tremendous redundancies" within administrative offices at HHS.
Democrats also criticized Kennedy's lack of transparency with Congress to provide more information about the termination of federal funding for public health and research and the workforce reductions.
"I have sent you 10 letters on a variety of topics, including devastating workforce and program cuts at HHS. You've answered none, and your staff have given no indication that you intend to answer despite being asked repeatedly. And this, in my opinion, is the opposite of radical transparency," Pallone said. "I call it radical obstruction of congressional oversight."
Kennedy said he would provide responses to lawmakers' letters but would not commit to a date.
During the contentious hearing, Democrat Kim Schrier, M.D., a pediatrician representing Washington's 8th congressional district, confronted Kennedy about his decision to purge 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Just a few days after the purge, Kennedy appointed eight new members to the advisory panel.
in late May, Kennedy announced that HHS would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children and healthy pregnant people, bypassing the typical vaccine recommendation process.
"As a pediatrician, I find that extremely alarming," Schrier said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., played a key role in advancing RFK Jr.’s nomination to the full Senate after RFK Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, had reportedly promised the senator not to disrupt existing U.S. practices on vaccines. During a floor speech in early February, Cassidy said RFK Jr. had pledged to maintain ACIP's recommendations “without changes.”
"Mr. Secretary, question for you. Did you lie to Senator Cassidy when you told him you would not change this panel of experts?" Schrier asked Kennedy during the hearing.
"I never made that agreement," Kennedy responded.
"So are you saying that Senator Cassidy lied when he was on the Senate floor, lied to the American people?" Schrier shot back.
"If he said that I agreed to it, it would be inaccurate. I made an agreement with him, and he and I have talked many times about that agreement," Kennedy responded.
"You're now on the record," Schrier told Kennedy. "You lied to Senator Cassidy. You have lied to the American people. You have lied to parents about vaccines for 20 years. And, I also want to be clear, that I will lay all responsibility for every death from a vaccine preventable illness at your feet."
On Monday, Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), expressed concerns on X over the eight new members whom RFK Jr. has selected to serve on the CDC’s ACIP. Cassidy called for the vaccine panel's upcoming meeting scheduled for later this week to be postponed.