Politics
‘Give Me Credit!’: RFK Loses His Patience, Explodes On Rep. Rose DeLauro
A combative Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, thrashing Democratic lawmakers who refused to budge over his assertion that finding savings in the federal budget is an appropriate mission for U.S. Health and Human Services.
The Trump advisor held particular scorn for Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-CT), who he accused of not giving him enough credit to restrict food dyes in children’s food, something she has advocated for for 20 years.
“Thirty-eight percent of our youth are diabetic or pre-diabetic. That was zero when I was a kid,” the HHS secretary said before the House Appropriations Committee as he defended cuts to the federal agency that have left Democrats like DeLauro apoplectic.
But to RFK, a former Democrat who left the party after being ridiculed for running against former President Joe Biden before it was cool, the HHS he inherited was far from a leader in children’s health and requires a top-to-bottom housecleaning.
“If anybody thinks that we did gold standard medicine in this country from these institutions — look at our children! They’re some of the sickest children in the world,” he continued before turning to DeLauro.
“Congresswoman DeLauro, you say that you’ve worked for 20 years on getting food dye out. Give me credit! I got it out in a hundred days!”
“I’ll give you that credit,” the Democrat replied behind a muted microphone.
“Alright so let’s work together and do something that we all believe in, which is have healthy kids in our country for God’s sake,” RFK finished before moving on.
WATCH:
The maker of MAHA will head across town Wednesday afternoon for equally rigorous testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Both appearances mark the first time he has returned before Congress since slipping through confirmation hearings back in January, according to ABC News.
Vaccination studies and HHS research into their adverse effects continues to be an area of profound disagreement between RFK, who has long called for greater transparency, and Democrats who have accused him of undermining public health efforts.
During his morning testimony, RFK said he has instructed NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to “lay out the pros and cons, the risks and benefits, accurately as we understand them, with replicable studies,” for people to “make that decision” about whether to vaccinate their kids.
Asked by Democratic Rep. Marc Pocan (D-WI) whether he would vaccinate his own children, RFK responded “probably” for measles, but that “my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant.”
“I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive, but I don’t think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me,” Kennedy said.
During her time, Rep. DeLauro called out RFK for pursuing $20 billion in cuts to NIH’s annual budget, an amount she claimed would determine life or death for some patients.
“Mr. Secretary, you are gutting the life-saving work of the Department of Health and Human Services and its key agencies while the Republicans in this Congress say and do nothing,” DeLauro said. “Because of these cuts people will die.”
“We intend to do more, a lot more with less. The budget I’m presenting today supports these goals and reflects two enduring American values, compassion and responsibility,” Kennedy said previously in his opening statement.
