Senate Democrats demand answers from RFK Jr. over sweeping HHS agency cuts

Senate Democrats formally demanded answers from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in mid-2025 regarding the sweeping cuts to the FDA, CDC, NIH, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, arguing that the reductions threatened the country's public health infrastructure. Kennedy defended the cuts before both House and Senate committees, claiming the reductions targeted administrative redundancy rather than frontline scientific or inspection capacity. Critics including public health experts testified that cutting 2,400 CDC employees, 3,500 FDA workers, and 1,200 NIH staff would impair disease surveillance, food safety enforcement, and medical research respectively. The hearings marked an early congressional attempt to establish oversight of HHS restructuring conducted largely through DOGE directives rather than the normal appropriations and legislative process.