It’s hard to overstate the damage that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to the public health infrastructure of the United States in his first year as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. An exhaustive list of these crimes could—and likely will—fill books.
Though he promised otherwise in his confirmation hearings, Kennedy has decimated the country’s vaccine and public health infrastructure. Last June, amid a historic measles outbreak that he has consistently downplayed, Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 expert members from the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, days before the panel was set to meet, only to stack it with vaccine skeptics largely without expertise in the subject matter. He went on to restrict access to vaccines for Covid-19 and other diseases.
Under his leadership, HHS has cut millions of dollars from mRNA vaccine research. He has also defunded research into cancer, a bird flu vaccine, and future pandemic threats. He has spread misinformation and stigma about autism and reduced the number of childhood vaccine recommendations from 17 to 11. He tried to conduct a highly unethical study in Guinea-Bissau that would put the tiny country’s population—which has among the highest rates of hepatitis B in the world—at a much higher risk of contracting the disease.
This has all come atop the substantial misrule of the Trump administration: historic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP food benefits, and the CDC and National Institutes of Health; everywhere, staff numbers have been slashed and chaos has been sown. The Trump administration’s halt of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has also hit HHS, with research studies examining how race, ethnicity, and gender can play a role in medical outcomes now on ice. This is part and parcel with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which ignores social determinants of health care while maintaining that good health is purely a matter of individual responsibility. (Somehow, that bonkers video he did with Kid Rock at the gym and sauna is also pertinent.)
These actions have taken center stage over the past week as Kennedy has testified before Congress about the 2027 budget, which threatens to further hack funding for NIH and other agencies—in addition to the implementation of the largest Medicaid cuts in history and massive rate hikes to marketplace plans.
In this week’s hearings, lawmakers have been eager to grill Kennedy about his role in the measles outbreak and his promotion of anti-vaccine policies and sentiment, his cuts to research and health funding, including to gender-affirming care, and the misinformation he’s spread—for example, that taking Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism in babies. Though the vast majority of interrogation and criticism has come from Democrats, some Republicans have also had some tepid, measured words of criticism for Kennedy.
For the most part, Kennedy has used these fora to double down. He’s denied his role in the measles outbreak, repeated debunked conspiracy theories, and defended President Donald Trump. But Kennedy’s speaking tour is set to continue after the hearings conclude, at least for those who plan on tuning in to his new podcast.
Much of the heated rhetoric coming out of these hearings has only echoed previous condemnations of Kennedy by members of Congress—both from his initial confirmation hearings and from when he was brought in for similar questioning in September 2025. It’s been a banner week for those who traffic in anti-Kennedy sound bites. But the larger question remains: Beyond the occasional public upbraiding, can anything be done to stop him?
Much of the advocacy resisting Kennedy has come from medical and science experts, who have published ample research correcting Kennedy’s misinformation and pushed for the restoration of health care and science funding. Numerous coalitions, such as Defend Public Health and Stand Up for Science, have arisen to push back against Kennedy and the harms his policies are causing. Projects like the Vaccine Integrity Project have emerged to present a united front of medically based, scientific vaccine recommendations to counter the chaos at CDC.
Bruce Mirken, a spokesperson for Defend Public Health, a broad coalition made up of health and public health experts, which formed in the wake of Trump’s reelection, explained that the organization’s first efforts focused on stopping Kennedy’s confirmation. Since that effort fell short, the coalition, in network with other organizations, has tried to curb the damage of his policies using various tactics, from letter writing to protests to filing amicus briefs in support of court cases. “We could put some roadblocks in the way and do what we could to mobilize people in the health community, inform the public, start to make RFK and his policies a liability,” he said.
There have been some victories: Advocacy efforts played a role in stopping the nomination of dangerous anti-vaxer Dave Weldon to head the CDC last year, as well as in stalling the nomination of Casey Means as surgeon general.
Moreover the aforementioned hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau was canceled. Stand Up for Science, a political activism organization that came together in early 2025, sent an investigator to the country and reported their findings to Congress, and the study was ultimately halted. Colette Delawalla, founder and CEO of Stand Up for Science, described this as “some of the most impactful, critical work that we’ve done as an organization.”
At the same time, Mirken stresses that these wins are far from enough to stop the onslaught. “There is such a tide of bad things that have happened that the occasional victory here and there, it’s better than nothing, but nobody feels like it’s adequate,” he said.
This echoes a sense of hopelessness and resignation that seems to have enveloped much of the public—a sense of futility in being able to stop the barrage of Trumpian misrule. For many, the decimation of the country’s public health infrastructure at Kennedy’s hands hasn’t risen to the top of the priorities list—what with a war in Iran raging and daily threats to democracy. But the ongoing efforts to thwart Kennedy’s ambitions have borne some fruit.
There has naturally been no small amount of uproar over what Kennedy has done. Lawmakers, advocacy groups, medical associations, and in one case, over 1,000 HHS staffers have made calls for Kennedy’s resignation, firing, or removal from office. And while the effort to impeach him outright has not gained much traction, there have been other congressional attempts to hold him accountable. Last May, in fact, 29 senators filed an official resolution of disapproval of Kennedy’s term in office.
Perhaps the biggest victory against Kennedy came from a federal judge’s ruling last month on a case brought forth by the American Association for Pediatrics, or AAP among other plaintiffs. The ruling nullified Kennedy’s efforts to remake the vaccine advisory committee, deeming it “capricious and arbitrary,” thus vacating its decisions to restrict vaccine access to children and slash the number of recommended vaccines.
“I think that history chapters will be written about their resistance,” said Delawalla. Along with other leading medical organizations, the AAP released its own evidence-based vaccine recommendations in the wake of Kennedy’s reckless policy changes.
HHS has promised to appeal the ruling, though the Trump administration has stalled. Kennedy already appears to be trying to find ways around it. Meanwhile, the future of ACIP hangs in the balance—it cannot meet until it appoints committee members using proper procedure, the ruling states. Meanwhile, all of the confusion that’s been sown during this policy fight has likely already done a considerable amount of damage to public health.
And this week, there was another legal victory when a federal judge struck down the administration’s ability to enforce its attempted ban on gender-affirming care for minors, based on comments from Kennedy himself.
Some advocates remain frustrated by Congress’s inability to more firmly right Kennedy’s wrongs. With the exception of the articles of impeachment introduced by Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, “it’s been a lot of talk and not a lot of action,” according to Delawalla.
As we’ve seen with the recent departures of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the most likely route to Kennedy’s removal from office would be if his relationship with Trump sours enough to force the president’s hand. “We have to make RFK Jr. a liability to Trump and the Republicans,” said Delawalla. “The second that somebody becomes a liability, [Trump] kicks them out.” (Though as the aforementioned recent examples seem to indicate, the fact that Kennedy is a man may help him considerably.)
Some cracks between Trump and Kennedy’s MAHA movement are certainly beginning to show—perhaps even widening. It has been widely reported that the administration has instructed Kennedy to back off from his focus on vaccines, especially ahead of the midterms, because vaccines are widely popular. Whether or not he follows that directive remains to be seen. As Delawalla points out, he is even now “deviating from instruction from the White House.”
In addition, Trump recently promoted an executive order to speed up production of glyphosate, a chemical that has long been “public enemy number one” for Kennedy, according to Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist and member of Defend Public Health. As an environmental lawyer, RFK Jr. spent years arguing that glyphosate causes cancer. The glyphosate ruling was a “huge betrayal” to the MAHA movement she said, even though RFK Jr. went along with it.
Beyond Kennedy’s obsessive focus on vaccines, part of his brand centers around limiting ultra-processed foods and regulating chemicals, which clashes with MAGA’s moves to loosen restrictions on private companies. “I think MAGA is starting to realize that MAGA and MAHA are fundamentally incompatible movements,” said Malaty Rivera. “It’s becoming a political liability to MAGA because MAGA runs on deregulation, and MAHA needs regulation.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz to head the CDC is noticeably more mainstream than many of the other MAHA lackeys who have obtained leadership positions at HHS. According to CNN, one White House staffer said of Schwartz: “We just need someone who’s not crazy.”
As Mirken said, “What gives me hope is I think it has become clear that a lot of what Kennedy is doing is really politically unpopular, and I think that is going to come back and bite them in the behind.”
Still, it doesn’t seem like Kennedy’s firing is on the immediate horizon. Trump has not publicly disavowed his HHS secretary, nor has he offered a discouraging word on the MAHA movement writ large. Politico reports that the administration still plans to send Kennedy on the campaign trail to support Republicans in midterm races around the country, which is not the sort of thing you do when you want to put some political distance between your party and one of its controversial figures.
Stand Up for Science has been closely involved in the thus-far quixotic effort to impeach Kennedy. Last summer, the organization circulated a petition demanding his removal, which has collected almost 25,000 signatures.
But finding congressional sponsorship for articles of impeachment, according to Delawalla, proved more of a challenge: “We held over 30 meetings with members of the House to find somebody who would be willing to bring forward articles,” said Delawalla. “People think [impeachment] can’t happen.”
As Delawalla explained, Stand Up for Science eventually found an ally in Representative Haley Stevens, a centrist Democrat from Michigan, who officially filed articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. in December. “RFK Jr. left me with no choice,” Stevens told The New Republic.
“When RFK was confirmed, we saw conspiracy theories and drastic overhauls and cuts to scientific research,” said Stevens. “I started calling out the conspiracy theories, and I started calling out the cuts. I called for the funding to be reinstated. I wasn’t listened to, and I then called for him to resign. He decided not to resign. And then I started drafting the articles of impeachment, given how serious this was.”
Since its introduction, the resolution has stalled. For an impeachment effort to succeed, a majority of House members would need to support it—and of course, without a Democratic majority, this is all but certain to fail.
Still, Delawalla had hoped that momentum for impeachment from the left could be a decisive factor in pushing Kennedy out. “We have not seen the support that we thought that we would see from the left,” said Delawalla. We really thought that Democrats would look at what happened with Noem, would look at what happened with Pam Bondi, and look at what is happening with RFK—that they could force him out just by starting these articles.”
Currently, impeachment efforts against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump himself over the war in Iran are gathering some steam, though they may also be unlikely to actually pass. Without the green light from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, other Democrats have acted “helpless,” said Delawalla.
But while there hasn’t been much congressional support for these impeachment efforts, the public reception has been more positive. Hundreds of scientists have signed on in support of the legislation, and Stand Up for Science’s petition to impeach and remove Kennedy continues to collect signatures.
Some have criticized the impeachment move as politically motivated, as Stevens is currently vying for a Senate seat against front-runners Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, who are both running to her left. “When Republican doctors in Michigan thank me for being a leading voice on impeachment for RFK Jr., I know I’m doing the right thing,” said Stevens.
Whatever the motivation, Stevens said she believes “RFK Jr. is the next to go.”
But even if Trump fires Kennedy, or Kennedy resigns, what happens then?
Despite the fact that the administration felt compelled to tap a reasonable-seeming person to head the CDC, there are still other dangerous anti-vax conspiracy theorists like Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary heading major agencies, and a dangerous new nominee for FDA vaccine chief. And MAHA has seeped into the fabric of the country: Hundreds of bills have been introduced at the state level eroding long-standing public health protections, such as fluoride. Beyond the people tasked with leading these agencies—and a president well known for harboring his own vaccine skepticism—the public health sector is still reeling from massive funding cuts, which would likely continue to be the order of the day for any Republican.
There remains hope for some moderate restoration of research funds, as we’ve seen cuts for things like addiction treatment reversed after public outcry. But some of the damage of Kennedy’s policies could take years to undo—and many of the consequences of codified anti-vaccine sentiment are yet to be seen.
And it’s not like the health care system Kennedy inherited was all that great. Should Kennedy leave office, we’re still facing a broken health care system—which is no small part of the reason why so many people are susceptible to MAHA beliefs in the first place. Public trust in health authorities has only further eroded since Trump’s return to office.
This is in part why Defend Public Health has been clear from the get-go that it doesn’t intend to stop its efforts simply at rolling back the harms of the current administration. “It’s really important to not just ... fix what’s broken,” said Mirken. “We have to recognize that we can do better.”
Though they are nonpartisan, the coalition recently released a platform advocating for a single-payer health care system, which they are beginning to circulate among political candidates ahead of the midterms.
Data has shown health care is a top concern for voters in the midterms, and support for a single-payer, Medicare for All–style health care system is growing. Dozens of doctors are running for Congress, seeking a corrective to the anti-health, anti-science policies coming out of the White House. Currently, the disaster of Trump’s Iran invasion is overshadowing just about every other issue, but there’s still time between now and November for these forces to make their case.
In the immediate term, said Mirken, “the real responsibility lies with Congress and, honestly, the president. We and other groups can and will make noise now and in the future, but they can act. Trump could replace RFK Jr. today. Congress could get serious about impeachment. Lives are literally at stake, and I’m old-fashioned enough to think that should matter.”
