Between a resolution of disapproval and new articles of impeachment, lawmakers gave the secretary of Health and Human Services two reasons to be in a sour mood.
RFK Jr. succeeds in changing hepatitis B recommendation
A vaccine panel led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voted to end the recommendation for hepatitis B shots for all newborns.
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have given Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. two reasons to be in a bad mood.
First, a congresswoman filed formal articles of impeachment on Dec. 10 against Kennedy, the nation’s top public health official. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Michigan, who is running for an open Senate seat in her state, denounced the former presidential candidate and vaccine skeptic in her measure, which has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has imperiled the health and safety of the American people, eroded public confidence in the Nation’s public health institutions, and stalled decades of scientific and medical progress,” Stevens wrote in the impeachment articles.
The certain-to-fail measure came just days after a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted to rescind recommendations that newborn babies receive an immediate first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. The controversial decision drew outrage from public health experts and even some congressional Republicans.
Andrew Nixon, the top HHS spokesperson, accused Stevens of playing political games.
“Secretary Kennedy remains focused on improving Americans’ health and lowering costs, not on partisan theatrics designed to elevate standing in a failing, third-rate Senate bid,” Nixon said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Later in the day, Kennedy drew a second, separate rebuke from the Senate. Three Republicans – Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – crossed party lines to join with Democrats and advance a resolution of disapproval against HHS for limiting public participation in the agency’s regulatory actions.
In late February, the department dropped a policy dating back to 1971 known as the Richardson Waiver, which requires HHS to solicit feedback about its grants and contracts. Critics have said the shift was meant to limit pushback to Kennedy’s new health policies. HHS argued that the public participation requirements were “contrary to the efficient operation of the Department.”
Nixon did not comment on the Senate’s resolution.
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
