Senate Finance Committee grills HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines, CDC shake-up, rural hospitals and drug costs

The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony and extensive questioning on HHS policy from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday, with senators pressing him on changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new vaccine guidance, rural hospital funding under the administration's "1 big beautiful bill," and drug-pricing and pharmacy benefit manager reforms.

Kennedy told the committee the administration is executing "a once-in-a-generation shift from a sick care system to a true health care system" and defended actions he said restore agency transparency and reduce waste. "Stopping this duplicate enrollment while working with states to ensure that individuals do not inappropriately lose coverage has the potential to save taxpayers $14,000,000,000 annually," he said, citing CMS work to eliminate duplicative Medicaid and marketplace enrollments.

Why it matters: Committee members said Kennedy's agenda affects core public-health systems, drug costs and rural access to care. Several senators warned that agency reorganizations and changes to vaccine advisory panels could reduce public confidence and vaccine uptake; Republicans and Democrats also pressed him on the budgetary and programmatic consequences of the administration's health legislation.

Topline discussion

- CDC leadership and vaccine policy: Ranking Member Ron Wyden and other Democrats sharply criticized Kennedy for removing long-standing advisory members and replacing CDC panels with appointees they called outside the scientific mainstream. Wyden said the administration had "elevated conspiracy theorists, crackpots, and grifters to make…