Emotions fly high behind the scenes at RFK Jr.'s Congressional hearings

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest quality connected Capitol Hill was marked by the accustomed drama – from a celebrated protestor being thrown retired of a committee country to a elder lawmaker shedding a teardrop distant from the glare of cameras.

The recently minted caput of Health and Human Services faced 2 Congressional committees connected May 14 arsenic helium defended the department's program to reduced unit by 20,000 and chopped wellness attraction programs. He testified earlier the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking subordinate of the House Appropriations Committee, grilled Kennedy connected the drastic cuts to probe programs astatine agencies including National Institutes of Health. But it was aft the country had emptied retired that she shared immoderate of her idiosyncratic past with a fistful of reporters.

“I'm an ovarian crab survivor. It's present 38 years,” a visibly affectional DeLauro said.  “I'm present due to the fact that of the grace of God and biomedical research.”

Investment successful probe whitethorn not marque a quality instantly but it’s 5 to 10 years erstwhile the state volition spot the quality -- and that is what she worries about, she said.

During the hearing, lawmakers called retired Kennedy connected his reluctance to unequivocally counsel parents to vaccinate their children arsenic the federation faces a measles outbreak. As idiosyncratic with a agelong past of arguable views connected vaccines, Kennedy stepped retired of his comfortableness portion successful April to accidental that the MMR vaccine was the “most effectual mode to prevent the dispersed of measles.”

But helium stopped abbreviated of recommending it to parents.

MAHA: RFK Jr.'s MAHA question is coming to a authorities adjacent you

The Wednesday meetings offered lawmakers a accidental to question Kennedy directly, with Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan asking Kennedy: “If you had a kid today, would you vaccinate that kid for measles?”

“Probably for measles,” Kennedy said, earlier qualifying his answer. “What I would accidental is my opinions astir vaccines are irrelevant.”

Pressed further, Kennedy said: “I don’t deliberation radical should beryllium taking aesculapian proposal from me.”

There was besides praise successful adjacent measurement from Republican lawmakers who lauded Kennedy for his efforts to signifier retired artificial dyes from the U.S. nutrient supply.

At the Senate committee meeting, William Arnone, a healthcare argumentation consultant, sat successful the beforehand row. A decades-long advisor to Democratic politicians, Arnone has advised everyone from Kennedy’s precocious begetter and salient Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, erstwhile helium was a U.S. legislator from New York, to erstwhile Secretary of State and statesmanlike campaigner Hillary Clinton.

Arnone said it was clip for a change.

“I've been a accepted protagonist of programs that person antiauthoritarian roots,” helium said. “But it's clip for america to reassess everything and absorption connected the goal, which is prevention, not treatment.”

Within minutes of Kennedy's testimony, 5 radical successful the assemblage roseate from their seats and began charging towards Kennedy, with a fewer shouting "RFK kills radical with AIDS.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen was among the protestors who was removed from the country by Capitol Police. The crystal pick company, which is known for supporting wide causes and candidates.

"I told Congress they're sidesplitting mediocre kids successful Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking mediocre kids disconnected Medicaid successful the US. This was the authorities' response," he wrote connected X.

Others, similar Jeffrey Rose, cheered him on, saying Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement, which focuses connected ending what helium calls the “chronic illness epidemic" by taking connected Big Pharma and Big Food, is precisely what the state needs.

Wearing a greenish MAHA hat, Rose said helium archetypal crossed paths with Kennedy, a erstwhile biology lawyer, implicit 30 years ago.

"Now we person idiosyncratic moving connected the MAHA level for the archetypal time," Rose said. "How fantastic is that? How large is that?"

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is simply a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You tin travel her connected X @SwapnaVenugopal

This nonfiction primitively appeared connected USA TODAY: Emotions alert precocious down the scenes astatine RFK Jr.'s Congressional hearings