Lawmakers grilled Robert F Kennedy Jr's handling of the worst measles outbreak in decades, as the US health secretary tried to shift focus away from his vaccine stances during his first hearing before Congress in months.
Democrats from the House Ways & Means Committee accused Kennedy of bungling the response to measles and undermining the safety of childhood immunisations.
Kennedy did not discuss his vaccine agenda, instead focusing on 'ending the era of federal policies that fuelled the chronic disease epidemic' in the US.
'President Trump and I are challenging the status quo and the institutions that defend it as we work to make America healthy again in just 15 months,' he said.
Kennedy was at the hearing on Thursday to present the Trump administration's proposal to cut his agency's budget in the coming fiscal year by about $16bn (£11.8bn), a 12.5% decrease from last year.
During the three-hour appearance, Kennedy, a longtime vaccine sceptic, heard a range of complaints from lawmakers related to his cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff and cancer research, as well as his changes to vaccine recommendations.
'Your dangerous conspiracy theories are undermining safe and effective vaccines,' California Democratic Representative Mike Thompson told Kennedy, alongside a chart of the nearly 4,000 measles cases the US reported in 2025 and 2026.
Since taking office, Kennedy has attempted to remake longstanding US vaccine policies, including slashing the number of recommended shots for children and replacing an expert advisory panel with several vaccine critics.
But in March, a judge struck down many of those changes, finding the new members of the advisory panel had not been properly appointed.
HHS indicated that the agency would appeal against the ruling, but has yet to do so, and in the months since, Kennedy has appeared to shift focus away from talking about vaccines.
Democratic Representative Linda Sanchez also pressed Kennedy about the US measles outbreak, which led to the deaths of two children in Texas last year. During the outbreak, Kennedy at times endorsed the safe and effective measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, while at other times casting doubt on its safety.
Sanchez asked Kennedy whether a child's life could have been saved by the measles vaccine.
'It's possible, certainly,' Kennedy said.
At times, Kennedy fired back, frustrated that Democrats were not allowing him time to respond. 'They've all shut me up and they've talked about science, but science is about debate,' he said.
Several Republicans thanked him for his agenda, including Jodey Arrington, who called Kennedy 'a breath of fresh air'.
Kennedy received criticism from at least one Republican, Blake Moore of Utah, who said he had a neurodivergent son and was 'underwhelmed' with the Trump administration's autism research efforts.
Kennedy has made finding the cause of autism - a complex syndrome that has been studied for decades - a central mission.
Last year, US President Donald Trump, alongside Kennedy, claimed that taking Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy could cause autism, though medical experts say research does not support that claim.
'My wife was hurt, and she felt for a split-second until we came to our senses and we talked about this, that there was any way she was responsible,' Moore said. 'We don't even know if she took Tylenol during her pregnancy, but that was a hurtful moment for her.'
Democrat Gwen Moore also brought up Trump's cuts to aid programmes for mothers and children, including food stamps, asking how those cuts would help improve Americans' health.
'Nobody wants to make the cuts,' Kennedy responded, adding that they were necessary because of a $39 trillion deficit.
