Senators question RFK: A ‘steadfast commitment’ to America’s health, or ‘a health care calamity’?

Senate leaders painted two different pictures of federal leadership in the American health care system, and its guidance for patients, under the tenure of Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
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On Sept. 4, Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for the hearing, “The President’s 2026 Health Care Agenda.”

Committee Chair Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) focused on different developments that have happened since Kennedy took the leadership post.

A patient-centered system

Crapo highlighted Kennedy and President Donald J. Trump’s “steadfast commitment to make America healthy again” in this administration.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

“HHS has placed patients at the center of the health care system, empowering them with the tools and information they need to create a healthier future,” Crapo said. “We know that chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer and diabetes are some of the leading causes of death in America. Now the department has a renewed focus on tackling the root causes of chronic disease and promoting prevention.”

Crapo said he looks forward to exploring ways for the federal government can further align payment incentives to support healthy living and fight chronic disease.

Waste, fraud and abuse

HHS and the administration has prioritized elimination of waste, fraud and abuse by targeting eligibility and enrollment verification.

“This critical work is not just about saving taxpayer dollars, it's about restoring trust and ensuring vital programs like Medicare and Medicaid are sustainable for generations to come,” Crapo said. In July, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services identified 2.8 million simultaneously enrolled in multiple Medicaid or Affordable Care Act exchange plans, Crapo said. Eliminating those duplicate enrollments will save $14 billion a year, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending plan will have additional reforms, he said.

Rural health, physician payment and more

That legislation also created the Rural Health Transformation Program. Crapo called it “the single largest investment in rural health care in decades,” tostabilize and modernize the rural health delivery system around country.

“These accomplishments reflect a vision for a health care system that is proactive, efficient and patient-centered,” Crapo said. While the debate on issues likely will split on partisan lines, the Senate Finance Committee has a history of bipartisan health care, he said. Crapo said he remains committed to partnering with the administration and Wydento enact policies that realign incentives in the prescription drug supply chain, expand access to telehealth, and ensure long-term stability in the physician payment system.

‘A health care calamity’

In his opening statement, Wyden pointed to other recent developments in national health care leadership — or, “a healthcare calamity.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)

Kennedy has been in office 203 days.

“Every single day there's been an action that endangers the health and wellness of American families,” Wyden said. “Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists, crackpots and grifters to make life or death decisions about the health care of the American people.”

Kennedy’s tenure has been marked by three calling cards, Wyden said.

“One is chaos at federal health agencies, leaving families doctors and the entire nation confused and frightened; corruption that benefits Robert Kennedy, Donald Trump and their friends, at the expense of taxpayers; and higher health costs for families,” Wyden said.

It is clear Kennedy wants to take vaccines away from Americans, even as he and his family stand to benefit financially from class-action lawsuits filed against vaccine makers, Wyden said. Kennedy fired the members the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with “outright vaccine deniers who have appeared as paid witnesses in lawsuits against vaccine makers,” and whose conflicts of interest remain hidden, Wyden said.

He also referred to projected effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will reduce Medicaid enrollment and stop subsidies for people with health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces.

“On top of all this bedlam in American health care, just two months ago, Donald Trump signed into law the largest health care cuts in American history to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest people and massive corporations in our country,” Wyden said. “Republicans know these cuts are going to hit communities like a wrecking ball. That's why they pushed the most severe cuts until after the election. That's why their members already introduced bills to roll back some of the cuts.”

Protecting children?

Wyden claimed Kennedy in recent days illegally “attempted to disappear” hundreds of children under his care at Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities.” Many of those children were attempting to escape trafficking in their homeland, he said. Kennedy calls himself a protector of children, but that is “some kind of rich claim” from someone who flew on the private jet of Jeffrey Epstein.

“I don't think Robert Kennedy should be within a million miles of this job,” Wyden said.

Apart from the Senate Finance Committee hearing, Kennedy has acknowledged traveling twice on a jet owned by Epstein, the New York financier who died in jail while awaiting trial for charges of sex trafficking girls. Kennedy has not been accused of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, who had been a friend to Trump before a falling out. In recent weeks there has been a public clamor for the administration to disclose additional records about the Epstein case.