Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparred with a number of Democrats on Wednesday while he testified before the House committee on appropriations.
Kennedy called out Democrats for echoing party talking points and for engaging in what he viewed as the politicization of public health.
In one instance, RFK took on Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) over budget cuts and other health initiatives.
DeLauro accused Kennedy of potentially breaking the law and putting Americans’ health at risk over cuts he’s made at HHS. The secretary shot back by describing the “absolute cataclysmic disorganization” of the department when he took it over, which he said was under her oversight for decades.
“We had nine separate offices of women’s health,” Kennedy explained. “When we consolidate them, Democrats say that we’re eliminating them. We’re not, we’re still appropriating the $3.7 billion, but we’re not keeping all nine. We had eight separate offices for minority health, we eliminated one. We had 27 HIV offices, we had 59 behavioral health programs.”
NEW: RFK Jr. flips the script on Democrat Rosa DeLauro—and exposes total chaos inside HHS.
DeLauro tried to corner him on tobacco prevention funding. But Kennedy turned the tables, spotlighting the disastrous failures under her oversight.
Rosa DeLauro: “Do you commit to… pic.twitter.com/uw7EUwo92L
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) May 14, 2025
Kennedy name-checked DeLauro later in the hearing, too, this time for what he viewed as her partisan behavior over health, specifically children’s health.
“Congresswoman DeLauro, you say that you’ve worked for 20 years on getting food dye out,” the secretary said. “Give me credit, I got it out in 100 days!”
Kennedy notably announced the phasing out of petroleum-based dyes last month. Already, major food companies have committed to making the changes before the end of 2026, which was the secretary’s goal.
“Let’s work together and do something we all believe in, which is have healthy kids in our country, for God’s sake,” a fiery Kennedy continued. “There’s no such thing as Republican children or Democrat children. There’s just kids, and we should all be concerned with them.”
🚨 MIC DROP
RFK Jr just lost it on congressional democrats.
“We’re poisoning this generation. 800,000 kids- the poorest kids in the country- and we’re starting them out with this count against them. With, you know, diabetes, pre-diabetes.
Thirty-eight percent of our youth are… pic.twitter.com/txD4Um4HrQ
— Anna Matson (@AnnaRMatson) May 14, 2025
Kennedy also took on Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA), whom RFK said was echoing Democrat talking points about HHS cuts.
“I don’t know if you understand this, or whether you’re just mouthing the Democratic talking points. Cuts to Medicaid are for fraud, waste, and abuse,” Kennedy told the congressman.
“There’s a million people who are claiming Medicaid from multiple states. That’s illegal. It’s theft. You’re not allowed to do that,” he continued.
“There are another million people who are collecting both Medicaid and Obamacare,” Kennedy said, before noting that the federal government will also no longer pay Medicaid for illegal immigrants.
Dem: WHY ARE YOU TAKING MEDICAID AWAY FROM MY SICK CONSTITUENTS?
RFK: WRONG!
~1 million ppl are claiming Medicaid illegally
~1 million ppl are collecting Medicaid AND Obamacare illegally.
~1 million ILLEGAL aliens are using Medicaid illegally.
-Millions of able-bodied adults on… pic.twitter.com/sBsHeEhspG— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 14, 2025
Kennedy will also appear before the Senate Health Committee.
Related: Trump Signs Order To Reduce Drug Prices, Tells Rest Of World To Pay Up
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