{"id":27798,"date":"2025-05-14T18:14:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27798"},"modified":"2025-05-14T18:30:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:30:03","slug":"rfk-jr-defends-hhs-overhaul-as-democrats-denounce-war-on-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27798","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. Defends HHS Overhaul as Democrats Denounce \u2018War on Science\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testifying before Congress for the first time as health secretary on Wednesday. He has been grilled over President Trump\u2019s cuts to public health agencies and research funding.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a defiant defense on Wednesday of his drastic overhaul of federal health agencies as House Democrats accused him of violating the law by shuttering whole divisions and cutting funding appropriated by Congress for medical research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are not withholding money for lifesaving research!\u201d Mr. Kennedy thundered at Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who lectured him on the language of the Constitution and Congress\u2019s power of the purse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. DeLauro looked disgusted. \u201cUnbelievable,\u201d she said, shaking her head. \u201cUnbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The back and forth with Ms. DeLauro was just one of a series of fiery exchanges between Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Kennedy during his first appearance on Capitol Hill since becoming health secretary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The purpose of Wednesday\u2019s hearing was for Mr. Kennedy to answer questions about President Trump\u2019s health budget for the next fiscal year. But Democrats focused instead on the mass layoffs and cuts Mr. Kennedy is already making, which they have condemned as part of what they call Mr. Trump\u2019s \u201cwar on science.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump has published only the broad outlines of his budget plan, which <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/02\/us\/politics\/trump-budget-cdc-nih-cuts.html\" title>calls for deep cuts<\/a> to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In his opening remarks to the House committee, Mr. Kennedy said the cuts would save money \u201cwithout impacting critical services,\u201d according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/AP\/AP07\/20250514\/118230\/HHRG-119-AP07-Wstate-KennedyR-20250514.pdf\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a copy of his remarks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The budget blueprint \u201crecognizes the fiscal challenges our country faces today, and the need to update and redirect our investments to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-kbghgg\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F14%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Frfk-jr-hhs-overhaul-hearing.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F14%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Frfk-jr-hhs-overhaul-hearing.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F14%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Frfk-jr-hhs-overhaul-hearing.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F14%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Frfk-jr-hhs-overhaul-hearing.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testifying before Congress for the first time as health secretary on Wednesday. He has been grilled over President Trump\u2019s cuts to public health agencies and research funding.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a defiant defense on Wednesday of his drastic overhaul of federal health agencies as House Democrats accused him of violating the law by shuttering whole divisions and cutting funding appropriated by Congress for medical research.\u201cWe are not withholding money for lifesaving research!\u201d Mr. Kennedy thundered at Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who lectured him on the language of the Constitution and Congress\u2019s power of the purse.Ms. DeLauro looked disgusted. \u201cUnbelievable,\u201d she said, shaking her head. \u201cUnbelievable.\u201dThe back and forth with Ms. DeLauro was just one of a series of fiery exchanges between Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Kennedy during his first appearance on Capitol Hill since becoming health secretary.The purpose of Wednesday\u2019s hearing was for Mr. Kennedy to answer questions about President Trump\u2019s health budget for the next fiscal year. But Democrats focused instead on the mass layoffs and cuts Mr. Kennedy is already making, which they have condemned as part of what they call Mr. Trump\u2019s \u201cwar on science.\u201dMr. Trump has published only the broad outlines of his budget plan, which calls for deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In his opening remarks to the House committee, Mr. Kennedy said the cuts would save money \u201cwithout impacting critical services,\u201d according to a copy of his remarks.The budget blueprint \u201crecognizes the fiscal challenges our country faces today, and the need to update and redirect our investments to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world.\u201dWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27800,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27801,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27798\/revisions\/27801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}