Sen. Ron Wyden laid into Kennedy in his opening statement, saying the secretary was responsible for fueling “mistrust” in the U.S. health care system.
“Families are confused,” Wyden said. “They’re scared about who to trust about their health care. Robert Kennedy and Donald Trump have done so much to feed that mistrust.”
Wyden specifically went after Kennedy for his dismantling of the vaccine structure, claiming Kennedy’s family and allies stand to potentially make financial gains from his decisions. Wyden said it’s “been obvious from the start that Robert Kennedy’s primary interest is to take vaccines away from Americans,” Wyden said.
“His agenda has not been about choices and information for families,” Wyden said. “Just last week, he threatened doctors that deviated from the new anti-science vaccines guidelines he released that make it harder for pregnant women and children to get the COVID vaccine.”
“Every single day, there has been an action that endangers the health and wellness of American families,” Wyden said. “Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists, crackpots and grifters to make life-or-death decisions about the health care of the American people.”
Wyden said he doesn’t think Kennedy “should be within a million miles of this job.”
“It is in the country’s best interest that Robert Kennedy step down, and if he doesn’t, Donald Trump should fire him before more people are hurt by his reckless disregard for science and the truth,” Wyden said.
Wyden asked the committee to formally swear in Kennedy as a witness “given the unprecedented nature of the witness’s behavior,” but Crapo objected, saying “we will let the secretary make his own case in his opening statement.”
“This committee’s unwillingness to swear this witness is basically a message that it is acceptable to lie to the Senate Finance Committee about hugely important questions like vaccines,” Wyden said.
