WASHINGTON — The top two members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — a Republican and an independent who caucuses with Democrats — have asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear at a hearing, less than a week after he announced a significant shake-up of the department. 

What You Need To Know

  • The top two members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — a Republican and an independent who caucuses with Democrats — have asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear at a hearing
  • In a letter addressed to Kennedy, the committee’s chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and its ranking member, Sen. Bernie Sander, I-Vt., said the hearing — set for April 10 and titled “An Update on the Restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services” — will focus on his “reorganization” of the department
  • The request comes less than a week after Kennedy announced that the Department of Health and Human Services would move to downsize from about 82,000 employees to 62,000 and on the same day multiple outlets reported HHS staff started receiving notices that their jobs are being eliminated as part of the effort
  • Along with shrinking its workforce, Kennedy last week also announced his intent to eliminate more than a dozen divisions within the department and create a new one called the Administration for Healthy America

In a letter addressed to Kennedy, the committee’s chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and its ranking member, Sen. Bernie Sander, I-Vt., said the hearing — set for April 10 and titled “An Update on the Restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services” — will focus on his “reorganization” of the department. 

The senators noted the “commitment” the secretary made during his confirmation to testify in front of the committee quarterly when asked by the chair. 

The request comes less than a week after Kennedy announced that the Department of Health and Human Services would move to downsize from about 82,000 employees to 62,000 and on the same day multiple outlets reported HHS staff started receiving notices that their jobs are being eliminated as part of the effort. 

About half of those leaving will be as a result of early retirements or buyout offers while the rest will be laid off, the department said.

Along with shrinking its workforce — a key component in the Trump’s administration’s wider efforts to downsize the federal government being carried out by the U.S. DOGE Service and Elon Musk — Kennedy last week also announced his intent to eliminate more than a dozen divisions within the department and create a new one called the Administration for Healthy America, or AHA.

Kennedy’s position atop the influential department has led to uncertainty itself, with the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official announcing his resignation last week and blasting the secretary for his views on immunizations on his way out. Dr. Peter Marks, according to The Associated Press, accused Kennedy — a longtime vaccine skeptic — of seeking to push “misinformation and lies.” 

Cassidy, a physician and well-known vaccine advocate, expressed concerns about Kennedy’s views on immunizations throughout his confirmation process Ultimately, the Louisiana Republican made clear he got to a yes on supporting Kennedy to lead the nation’s health department due in part to the commitments the now-secretary made to him on the matter.

One of those commitments, according to Cassidy, included maintaining “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.”