Tempers flared on Capitol Hill Thursday as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. locked horns in a fiery exchange that left little doubt about the level of distrust between the two.
The hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, originally slated to discuss public health policy, quickly unraveled when Warren confronted Kennedy over what she described as a blatant reversal on his vaccine stance.
“So last November, while you are under consideration to become Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. Kennedy, you said, quote, if vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,” Warren said, visibly agitated. “No exceptions, no ifs, or buts. You would not take away vaccines from anyone who wanted them.”
Warren then dropped the hammer: “Then last week you announced that the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer approved for healthy people under the age of 65.”
Kennedy, leaning forward into the mic, didn’t flinch. “It’s not recommended for healthy people,” he responded, flatly.
That lit the match.
“If you don’t recommend, then the consequence of that in many states is that you can’t walk into a pharmacy and get one!” Warren shot back. “You are effectively denying people vaccines!”
Kennedy raised his voice. “We’re not going to recommend a product for which there’s no clinical data for that indication! Is that what I should be doing?”
“What you should be doing is honoring your promise that you made when you were looking to get confirmed in this job,” Warren said. “Did you hold up a big sign saying that you were lying when you said that because you are the one who said you would not take them away?”
“You want me to indicate a product for which there is no clinical data?” Kennedy asked, his tone rising. “Is that what you want? I’m not taking them away! Everybody can get access to them!”
Warren wasn’t buying it. “No, they can’t walk into a pharmacy the way they could last month and get access to a whole vaccine.”
And that wasn’t all. Warren then went for the jugular, questioning Kennedy’s decision to fire CDC official Susan Monarez, accusing him of punishing her for not falling in line.
“Do you tell the head of the CDC that if she refused to sign off on your changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, that she had to resign?” Warren asked.
Kennedy’s explanation raised eyebrows.
“No, I told her that she had to resign because I asked her, are you a trustworthy person? And she said no,” he claimed.
Warren didn’t let that go. “So you’re saying she’s lying?” she pressed. “This is the same person that, less than a month earlier, you stood next to her and described her as unimpeachable.”
Then came the kill shot: “It looks like she didn’t bend the knee, so you fired her,” Warren said. “Look, you’re putting America’s babies’ health at risk, American’s seniors’ health at risk, all Americans’ health at risk, and you should resign.”
Watch the exchange in the video below.
