Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to focus on nutrition and food safety during his appearance before lawmakers on Thursday, with no mention of changing the vaccination schedule or investigating the causes of autism, according to his prepared written testimony.
The omission of these topics from his 12-page statement, submitted ahead of two hearings scheduled for Thursday, is seen as a further indication that the nation’s top health official is steering clear of some of his more controversial positions ahead of the November midterm elections.
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Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the White House recently encouraged health officials to focus policy discussions on more widely popular issues, as Donald Trump and the Republican Party work to strengthen support for their narrow majorities in Congress.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time anti-vaccine activist, suffered a setback last month after a court ruling blocked key parts of his effort to revise U.S. vaccine policy.
He is set to appear on Thursday before two U.S. House of Representatives committees to discuss the health portion of the Trump administration’s 2027 budget proposal, and will also face four additional hearings before House and Senate panels next week.
PROPOSED HEALTH BUDGET FACES PUSHBACK
The budget proposal requests $111 billion for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, representing a 12.5% reduction from current levels. It includes a $5 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health and the elimination of a low-income energy assistance program. Several senior Republicans, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, have already criticized the proposed cuts as unnecessary.
Democrats are expected to question Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on issues including rising healthcare costs, his stance on vaccines, cancellations of NIH grants that have delayed biomedical research, and his handling of the country’s largest measles outbreak in decades.
A copy of Kennedy’s prepared remarks highlights achievements under his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative and other administration priorities, including efforts on nutrition, food safety, drug pricing, fraud prevention, and reducing children’s access to gender-affirming care.
“We cannot hope to make America great again without first making Americans healthy again,” he plans to say. “The bedrock of health the key to reversing the chronic disease epidemic — is nutrition.”
“Secretary Kennedy speaks about a broad range of issues that affect the health and well-being of American families, and his statement reflects the priorities Americans consistently say matter most to them, from chronic disease prevention, childhood nutrition, food quality, and affordable health care,” said Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon when asked about the omission.
Nixon did not say whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to discuss vaccines or autism during the hearing, or whether the White House has asked him to shift his focus toward more popular policy areas ahead of the election.
NAVIGATING COMPETING CONSTITUENCIES
The Donald Trump administration is navigating a delicate balance, maintaining support from millions of “MAHA” supporters who helped reelect him in 2024 but are now frustrated by his order to increase pesticide production, while also managing broader public skepticism toward Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who co-founded the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, has during his tenure pushed to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines, restructured a CDC advisory panel of independent vaccine experts, and pledged to investigate the causes of autism.
Kennedy and his supporters have repeatedly suggested a link between vaccines and autism—a claim that has been widely discredited by scientific research, and at times has received explicit support from Donald Trump.
