HHS: Highly Heated Showdown In RFK Hearing

September 8th, 2025
Arnav Goyal

On September 4, 2025, one of the most combative Congressional Hearings in recent memory occurred. Robert F. Kennedy Jr—the current Health and Human Services Secretary—was grilled in a hearing that overshadowed controversy over his stance on vaccines and the firing of the head of the CDC. Much of the grilling wasn’t limited to Democrats; however, Republicans also grilled RFK, especially on his stance on vaccines. Let’s take an in-depth look at this hearing.

This hearing came at a time when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ousted the CDC Director, Susan Monarez, after less than a month in office. Moreover, internal scuffles within the HHS have led to huge debates over vaccine policy, especially over the COVID-19 vaccine. This is what prompted Monarez to be fired, and many other senior officials to resign in protest of it. With this, a cancellation of nearly $500 million in vaccine funding was announced, leading to huge worries among the scientific community, considering RFK’s hardline anti-vaccine stance.

This hearing aimed to change that position; however, most agree that this only made things worse for Kennedy, amid bipartisan criticism. He struggled to frame the picture of vaccine access, as that was the looming question during the hearing. He walked a fine line; however, he wasn’t immune to grilling. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) especially hammered on the subject, asking RFK about the decision to limit the COVID vaccine’s recommendations to those over 65. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) also heavily grilled Kennedy on a variety of issues, such as Operation Warp Speed. RFK deflected on his response, saying Trump should get a Nobel Prize for it during questioning with Senator Cassidy (R-LA). He also discussed rural healthcare, where Sanders criticized Kennedy on the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill on rural healthcare, as Kennedy had stated that $50 billion would be allocated to rural hospitals. However, Sanders said that it’s still a $100B loss under the bill, which was a big talking point before and after the hearing.

Yet, one thing arguably stood out the most: 2 Republican Senators, both doctors, grilled RFK heavily on his vaccine policy. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) walked a fine line. As the deciding vote to confirm RFK and a vaccine scientist, he expressed major concern that Kennedy’s vaccine policies are denying people access to vaccines. He praised Trump for Operation Warp Speed, but criticized Kennedy for his response, as he attempted to restrict access to vaccines and canceled funding for it. This wasn’t the end of the saga, though. Out of nowhere, Republican Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), the No. 2 Senate Republican and a former surgeon, heavily grilled Kennedy on vaccines, raising huge objections to Kennedy’s cancellation of vaccine funding. He also raised concerns over the Texas measles outbreak—which was heavily scrutinized by Democrats as well—saying that, “Americans don’t know who to rely on.” He also said that vaccines such as the Hepatitis B vaccine could be in jeopardy, especially considering that the vaccine panel that monitors those has now been filled with RFK loyalists. This was especially notable, as Barrasso never criticized RFK during his confirmation hearing and didn’t seem to have any grudges towards RFK.

This hearing was truly extraordinary: bipartisan criticism of the HHS Secretary over something unprecedented, namely, vaccine funding and the ousting of the CDC director, all the while deflections and unanswered questions prevailed. The saga hasn’t stopped there, though. Jerome Adams, the Surgeon General who served under Trump’s first administration, has called for the resignation of RFK. More than 1000 former and current HHS staff have called for his resignation. Many more have expressed major concern over his stance on vaccines, which could be detrimental to the US healthcare industry. It doesn’t seem like this saga will end in the near future. However, one thing is clear: there has been an unprecedented period of uncertainty in the HHS, and it doesn’t seem like it’ll end under RFK’s leadership anytime soon. With measles outbreaks, vaccine funding cuts and bipartisan criticism, it seems highly likely that something major will happen.

Extemp Analysis by: Ty Tan

Question: How will RFK’s contentious leadership affect US health policy for the rest of his term?

AGD: I would do a joke about RFK or his health policy. A well placed narrative too, that you weave throughout the speech, could also be powerful.

Background: A simple 3 sentence story is all you need for a simple question like this. I would do:

Who/what is RFK and what is his health policy
Why he is contentious and what that is doing
Why the backlash of his policy could have an affect on the future of his US health policy

Keep it simple and prepare for a wide range of ideas. Challenge your intuition by keeping it simple!

Answer: The best way to answer this is to a simple good effect/bad effect, and explain why - for the sake of practice and showing something unique I will be answering:

Mixed results, as US health policy will ebb and weave based on RFK’s decisions.

Lost Talent and Workforce
Political Distrust
Nationwide State-Challenges

The idea behind the points lies in this. Although RFK is dead set on doing various things (be it cutting vaccines or changing other policies), they come with consequences in these three areas. The B would focus on the idea that, as a result of the controversy, RFK would have to make a choice: continue his policy that hurts America, or walk back, helping it to find a more stable middle ground. I think this could offer the most compelling analysis, if done well.

Happy extemping!