Washington, D.C. – Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) delivered a scathing rebuke of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a May 21, 2025, Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, accusing him of lacking basic knowledge about the department he leads. “You are cutting programs and firing staff with no plan and no understanding of what the department you are leading even does for the American people,” Baldwin declared, as reported by Yahoo News. Her sharp criticism, echoing sentiments on X, highlights growing concerns over Kennedy’s qualifications and his sweeping overhaul of HHS, which critics argue endangers public health.
The hearing focused on the Trump administration’s proposed 26% cut to HHS’s 2026 discretionary budget, slashing $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and impacting programs like cancer research and childcare. Baldwin, the subcommittee’s top Democrat, grilled Kennedy on withholding congressionally appropriated funds, including grants for Alzheimer’s and rare diseases. “We’re not abandoning lifesaving research,” Kennedy responded, claiming cuts targeted “waste” and “duplicative programs.” Yet, his vague answers and apparent unfamiliarity with specifics—such as confusing Medicaid and Medicare in prior hearings—fueled Baldwin’s charge of incompetence.
Kennedy’s tenure, which began after a contentious 52-48 Senate confirmation in February, has been marked by controversy. His plan to cut 10,000 HHS jobs and reorganize agencies, including closing regional offices and creating an “Administration for a Healthy America,” has led to resignations of senior officials like FDA vaccine regulator Peter Marks. POLITICO reported a “sense of unraveling” at HHS, with staff morale plummeting. Baldwin also confronted Kennedy over cuts to a CDC program monitoring lead poisoning in children and delays in Head Start funding, which forced a Milwaukee facility’s closure.
Democrats, including Sens. Patty Murray and Peter Welch, have decried Kennedy’s “destructive rampage,” with CBS News noting upcoming hearings to probe mass terminations. On X, users like
@SenatorBaldwin, who previously called Kennedy a “vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist,” amplify the outrage, with
@CalltoActivism praising Baldwin’s “spot-on” takedown. Critics argue Kennedy’s anti-vaccine history and unorthodox priorities, like a proposed autism study amassing medical records, render him unfit for a department overseeing $1.7 trillion in spending and health programs for half the U.S. population.
Kennedy’s defenders, including allies within HHS, insist he’s shaking up a bloated bureaucracy. A senior aide told The Guardian the cuts target inefficiencies, not critical services, and Kennedy’s promise to preserve Head Start funding has reassured some. However, public health experts, like Dr. Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, warn that Kennedy’s leadership threatens vaccine trust and disease response, especially amid a west Texas measles outbreak.
Baldwin’s call for accountability resonates as Democrats leverage their Senate filibuster power to demand transparency. With Kennedy’s next hearing set for June, the clash over his fitness to lead HHS underscores a broader battle over the future of American healthcare.
