Kennedy faces calls to resign: ‘Hazard to the health of the American people’
Democratic lawmakers want him to step down after the ouster of the CDC director. More than 20 medical societies say he needs to go.
Amidst the turmoil in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lawmakers, Health Department staffers and some medical societies are calling on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign.
Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being pressed to resign by Democratic lawmakers after the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and changes to vaccine policies.
A few Democrats told him to quit face-to-face during a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, said Kennedy should step down or President Trump should remove him from his post.
“You are a hazard to the health of the American people,” Warnock said. “I think that you ought to resign. And if you don't resign, the president of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should fire you.”
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, also called for Kennedy to step down as health secretary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats, also called for Kennedy’s resignation after the hearing in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
Kennedy has faced scathing criticism following the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, who said she was forced out for refusing to sign off on reckless and unscientific directions and for balking at firing top CDC officials. Kennedy has rejected those allegations and said she was ousted for being untrustworthy.
More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Health & Human Services Department signed a letter imploring Kennedy to resign. They also called for the president to replace Kennedy if he won't leave.
No Republican lawmakers have called for his resignation, and President Trump has shown strong support for Kennedy.
Still, Democrats and some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern about the swift dismissal of Monarez, less than a month after winning Senate confirmation. Three top CDC officials also resigned in protest.
The Senate committee hearing also showed bipartisan concerns about changes in vaccine guidance that could limit access to those who want vaccines.
Fears of needless deaths
Beyond Capitol Hill, 21 medical societies have come together to call for his resignation. The groups, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Public Health Association, and the American Association of Immunologists, issued a joint statement this week.
They cited changes in vaccine policy under Kennedy, as well as other actions that reduce the government’s ability to respond to health emergencies, tackle chronic diseases and ensure food safety.
“We are gravely concerned that American people will needlessly suffer and die as a result of policies that turn away from sound interventions,” the groups said. “After careful consideration, we insist on Kennedy’s resignation to restore the integrity, credibility and science-driven mission of HHS and all its agencies.”
The groups also pointed to the CDC leadership changes and the firing of Monarez, who was nominated by President Trump for the post in March and won Senate confirmation largely on Republican support.
“Forcing high-level CDC expert leaders to turn their back on decades of sound science to meet Kennedy’s agenda puts us all at risk,” they wrote.
Debra Moury, MD, the CDC’s chief medical officer, was one of the three agency officials who stepped down after Monarez’s firing. She wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post that Kennedy was not consulting CDC experts on changes in vaccine guidance.
“I learned about a change to the CDC’s covid-19 guidance not from scientific briefings or official channels, but from a post on X by the HHS secretary announcing it. That change was not based on science or data,” Houry wrote.
Kennedy has taken a number of steps regarding vaccine research and guidance that have alarmed healthcare leaders. He canceled $500 million in mRNA vaccine projects, fired all the members of a key vaccine advisory panel, and changed COVID-19 vaccine guidance for pregnant women and kids.
‘The biggest health threat’
Kennedy received support from some Republican senators at the hearing Thursday, with some lauding his focus on chronic diseases. Some chided Democrats for stoking partisan divisions.
While no Republican lawmakers have said Kennedy should step away, a few GOP lawmakers have expressed concern about the firing of the CDC director.
Some Republican senators also expressed concerns about changes in vaccine guidance that will make it harder for some Americans to get Covid shots.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and a physician, said, “Effectively, we're denying people vaccine.” Cassidy has also suggested the Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which he chairs, would look into the departures at the CDC.
During the hearing, Cassidy also asked pointed questions about how Kennedy could criticize the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines while praising President Trump for Operation Warp Speed.
Before the hearing, a group of Democratic members of Congress gathered at a press event organized by Protect Our Care and called for Kennedy to step down. The group included six House Democrats who are also physicians.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, pointed to the shakeup of the CDC.
“The CDC, an agency known for its tenacity, precision, and capacity, is now totally in chaos by design, and every day this continues, the damage is compounded,” Ossoff said in a statement. “It is time for Mr. Kennedy to resign. He has demonstrated his incompetence. This is gross, unforgivable mismanagement that cannot continue.”
U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat and a medical doctor, also called for Kennedy to resign at the Thursday morning event.
“RFK Jr. is the biggest health threat that we face in America today,” Ruiz said. “This is unlike anything our nation has ever experienced, and that is unacceptable. The American people deserve a health secretary who understands and uses science to protect families and who puts the public’s health above politics. Secretary Kennedy has proven he cannot and will not do that.”
U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, a Washington Democrat and a pediatrician, said Kennedy needs to resign because he “is making our country a more dangerous place, particularly for children.”
“For months, RFK Jr. has let his reckless conspiracy theories guide our public health policy, eroding public trust and endangering lives,” she said.
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