RFK Jr. to Defend HHS Overhaul as Democrats Denounce ‘War on Science’

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose drastic overhaul of the federal health apparatus has left scientists and patients reeling, clashed on Wednesday with a senior House Democrat, who accused him of “destroying the crown jewels of our health system” and of violating the law by cutting funding appropriated by Congress for lifesaving medical research.

“We are not withholding money for lifesaving research,” Mr. Kennedy insisted. After a fiery back and forth, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, looked disgusted. “Unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head. “Unbelievable.”

He faced similar accusations from Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the former Democratic leader.

The sharp exchanges on Wednesday morning came during Mr. Kennedy’s testimony before the appropriations panel, his first appearance on Capitol Hill since becoming health secretary. He will also appear on Wednesday afternoon before the Senate health committee, whose Republican chairman will call on him to explain to Americans how his reforms “will make their lives easier, not harder.”

The back-to-back appearances were scheduled so that Mr. Kennedy could promote President Trump’s budget for the Department of Health and Human Services for the next fiscal year.

But he is also facing sharp questions about the huge reductions he has already imposed on research grants and jobs, which key Democrats have condemned as part of what they call Mr. Trump’s “war on science.”