RFK Jr claims the US is the ‘sickest country in the world’ as he spars with Democrats over vaccines and healthcare

Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr sparred with Democratic senators about the mass exodus from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kennedy’s recent actions on vaccines.

Kennedy testified before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday, where he defended his recent actions at the department, which includes the National Institutes of Health and the CDC.

“If we don’t end this chronic disease, we are the sickest country in the world,” he said. “That’s why we have to fire people at CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy.”

Last week, the Trump administration fired Susan Monarez, whom President Donald Trump had nominated to lead the agency. That triggered a resignation from other top officials at the center.

But many Democratic senators criticized him for his lack of understanding about public health and elevating conspiracy theorists.

“Republicans on the committee had a chance to prevent the public health train wreck that Mr. Kennedy has engineered,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said during the hearing.

Before the hearing began, Wyden and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) released a 54-page report about Kennedy’s mismanagement of the department.