US health minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers on Wednesday that Americans” should not be taking health tips” from him, reports media company Reuters. Kennedy defended job cuts under the Trump administration and his questionable vaccine notes during his first appearance before Congress. Being a long-time critique of vaccines, Kennedy was grilled by both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate HELP Committee during back-to-back sessions. His remarks came amid a influenza pandemic that has infected over 1, 000 persons and led to three deaths, largely among the uninsured. When asked if he would give his children the smallpox vaccine now, Kennedy replied,” Influenza? Perhaps for influenza, what I do suggest is my thoughts about vaccinations are useless. I don’t think people may be taking counsel, clinical guidance, from me”.The trials were meant to examine US President Donald Trump‘s proposed 2026 health resources. Kennedy was confirmed in February and has already fired 10, 000 workers across essential organizations, including the FDA and CDC. He has also supported slashing$ 18 billion from the National Institutes of Health and$ 3.6 billion from the CDC, claiming the changes would” save taxpayers$ 1.8 billion per year”. ” Our reductions have focused on aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw around a 15 % increase in the number of employees”, Kennedy told the House subcommittee. Liberals slammed the cuts as risky. ” All while you distribute false and dangerous vaccine suspicion, spread sits and misconceptions about people living with autism”, said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. At the Senate reading, Kennedy again declined to obviously help the MMR shot. ” I’m not going to simply tell people everyone is safe and effective if I know that there’s problems”, he said. When asked whether Elon Musk had influenced his judgments, Kennedy denied taking orders but admitted Musk had assisted with fraud monitoring. ” Elon Musk gave us aid in trying and figuring out where there was fraud and abuse in the office. But it was off to me to make the decision”, he said. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who helped secure Kennedy’s assurance, said Americans deserved quality. ” Americans need direct encouragement from the administration, from you, Mr. Secretary, that its measures will make their lives easier, not harder “.Audience people protested during the hearing, wearing stickers reading” When Bobby lies, kids die” and chanting” RFK kills people with AIDS” before being removed by Capitol officers.
