A Senate committee hearing involving Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won't happen this week as initially proposed by the panel's leading lawmakers, who are seeking answers on the deep-cutting restructuring of the health department that Kennedy ordered last month.
Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sent an invitation to Kennedy on April 1, the same day layoff notices went out to thousands of federal health workers across the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The cuts, which aim to reduce HHS’ workforce by 10,000 staff, were plagued by clerical errors and confusion — so much so that Kennedy said Friday about 20% of terminated staff may eventually need to be recalled.
In their letter, Cassidy and Sanders asked Kennedy to give an update on the reorganization to the Senate Committee on Health, Labor and Pensions on April 10. However, hearings must be scheduled at least seven days prior, and as no official notice has gone out, the proposed hearing won't take place on April 10.
It could still take place later if the committee and Kennedy agree on a date. It's unclear when a hearing might be scheduled, though, as the Senate is set to recess April 14 through April 25.
The delay is notable, as during his confirmation hearings, Kennedy promised Cassidy to appear before the HELP committee once a quarter. Cassidy and Sanders referenced that promise in their letter.
The pledge to appear regularly was one of several Kennedy made to secure the vote of Cassidy, who had raised significant concerns about Kennedy's history of spreading misinformation on vaccines.
Those concerns are again in the spotlight after the FDA’s top vaccine official, Peter Marks, resigned on March 28, citing his disagreement with Kennedy. In interviews with The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, Marks said Kennedy demanded nonexistent data on vaccine harms and sought unrestricted access to federal safety databases.
In a Mar. 29 statement on X, Cassidy said Marks’ departure was “a loss to the FDA” and called on Kennedy and new FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to replace him with “someone of similar stature and credibility amongst the scientific community.”
Scott Steele, a molecular biologist who leads regulatory science programs at the University of Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, has been named acting director of the FDA division Marks led.
The debate over Kennedy’s plans for U.S. vaccine policy come as the country faces the most significant outbreak of measles in years. On Sunday, health officials in Texas confirmed a child with measles had died, about one month after they reported the first U.S. death from measles in a decade.
The likely delay is also significant as Kennedy has promised “radical transparency” while serving as HHS Secretary. Yet among the layoffs he recently ordered were HHS staff who processed requests through the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public to request federal government records.
