Top Republican Refuses to Swear in RFK Jr. After Dem Accuses Him of Repeatedly Lying to the Senate
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, pulled no punches on Thursday in his opening statement at a hearing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the ouster of the recently Senate-confirmed director of the CDC. Wyden mentioned everything from Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism to his trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s jet in his remarks, which included an attempt to have him sworn in to testify under oath, which was rejected.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the committee gathers today, the United States is in the midst of a health care calamity. The largest cuts to American health care in the history of our nation. And they are approaching like an avalanche. Last week, most of the senior leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were fired or they resigned after refusing to bow to Robert Kennedy’s unceasing crusade against vaccines,” Wyden began.
“Families are confused. They’re scared about who to trust about their healthcare. Robert Kennedy and Donald Trump have done so much to feed that mistrust,” Wyden continued as he noted he joined with Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) to compile a report “that shows the disaster of Robert Kennedy’s 203 days in office.”
“Robert Kennedy has elevated conspiracy theorists, crackpots, and grifters to make life-or-death decisions about the health care of the American people. Robert Kennedy’s tenure is so far marked by three calling cards. 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. I ask unanimous consent of this chairman to enter this report into the record,” Wyden continued, adding:
Then there’s chaos. It’s been obvious from the start that Robert Kennedy’s primary interest is to take vaccines away from Americans. During his confirmation process, he claimed to be pro-safety and pro-science, but his actions reveal a steadfast commitment to elevating junk science and fringe conspiracies.
His agenda has not been about choices and information for families. Just last week, he threatened doctors that deviated from the new anti-science vaccine guidelines he released that make it harder for pregnant women and children to get the COVID vaccine.
Later in his statement, Wyden declared, “Amid this litany of corruption and chaos, the one point I have to underline is Robert Kennedy puts children in harm’s way every single day in America.”
“To my Republican colleagues, I must ask, what line must Robert Kennedy cross before some of you will also join this alarm? This weekend, under the cover of darkness, Robert Kennedy attempted to disappear hundreds of children under his care at Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities. These children here, without parents or family, were rounded up in the middle of the night and put on planes to Guatemala. Lawyers on the ground described unthinkable scenes,” he continued, adding:
Our staff, some of whom are here today, were party to this in the middle of night, and one child said to their lawyer, “Why do they want to send me back? My mom is dead, and my dad abuses me. Why do they want to hurt me?” This was an actual conversation. These actions were illegal. Documents show that many of these children were in the country to escape trafficking in their homeland.
Mr. Kennedy calls himself a protector of children. Some kind of rich claim, claiming from somebody who’s flown on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet on multiple occasions. I don’t think Robert Kennedy should be within a million miles of this job. Republicans on the committee had a chance to prevent the public health train wreck that Mr. Kennedy has engineered.
Everyone voted for him. It is in the country’s best interest that Robert Kennedy step down, and if he doesn’t, Donald Trump should fire him before more people are hurt by his reckless disregard for science and the truth.
“Mr. Chairman, it’s unfortunate that I have to say this, but this is a witness who has lied to members of the Senate Finance Committee,” Wyden continued, adding:
In response to over 35 written questions, including from me, he said, and I quote, that he would “do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines.” That was clearly not true. His unprecedented unilateral actions to restrict access to COVID vaccines alone prove it. He tried to fire the Senate-approved CDC director after she chose the truth over what I consider his delusions. His prepared testimony even today includes the debunked lie that half a million children disappeared under the Biden administration’s watch, a lie that the Trump administration is using as a pretext to hunt immigrant children and their families.
Wyden continued, saying, “I would ask now that the committee formally swear in Robert Kennedy as a witness.
Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) refused the request, to which Wyden replied, “I’ll only say, you know, Mr. Chairman, that this committee’s unwillingness to swear this witness is basically a message that it is acceptable to lie to the Senate Finance Committee about hugely important questions like vaccines.”
Watch the full clip above.
