US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers on Wednesday that Americans “should not be taking medical advice” from him, reports news agency Reuters. Kennedy defended job cuts under the Trump administration and his controversial vaccine remarks during his first appearance before Congress.Being a long-time critic of vaccines, Kennedy was grilled by both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate HELP Committee during back-to-back hearings. His remarks came amid a measles outbreak that has infected over 1,000 people and led to three deaths, mostly among the unvaccinated.When asked if he would give his children the measles vaccine today, Kennedy replied, “Measles? Probably for measles, what I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant. I don’t think people should be taking advice, medical advice, from me.”The hearings were meant to review US President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 health budget. Kennedy was confirmed in February and has already fired 10,000 staff across key agencies, including the FDA and CDC. He has also supported slashing $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health and $3.6 billion from the CDC, claiming the changes would “save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year.”“Our reductions have focused on aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw around a 15% increase in the number of employees,” Kennedy told the House subcommittee.Democrats slammed the cuts as dangerous. “All while you peddle unfounded and dangerous vaccine skepticism, spread lies and misinformation about people living with autism,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.At the Senate hearing, Kennedy again declined to clearly support the MMR jab. “I’m not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there’s issues,” he said.When asked whether Elon Musk had influenced his decisions, Kennedy denied taking orders but admitted Musk had assisted with fraud detection. “Elon Musk gave us help in trying and figuring out where there was fraud and abuse in the department. But it was up to me to make the decision,” he said.Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who helped secure Kennedy’s confirmation, said Americans deserved clarity. “Americans need direct reassurance from the administration, from you, Mr. Secretary, that its reforms will make their lives easier, not harder.”Audience members protested during the hearing, wearing stickers reading “When Bobby lies, children die” and chanting “RFK kills people with AIDS” before being removed by Capitol police.
