RFK Jr. Grilled by Congress Over Measles Outbreak Exceeding 1,700 Cases in 33 States

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced some of the most combative congressional questioning of his tenure last week, as lawmakers from both parties pressed him to explain the United States' worst measles outbreak in decades — one that has now produced more than 1,714 confirmed cases in 33 states and put the country at risk of losing its measles elimination status for the first time since 2000.

Kennedy appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee on April 16 and the House Education and Workforce Committee on April 17 to defend a proposed 12.4 percent cut to the HHS budget. But the hearings were dominated by measles, with Democratic lawmakers reading victim testimonials, holding up photographs of hospitalized children, and demanding that the secretary explain why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had quietly removed or softened pro-vaccination messaging from its public health campaigns during his first months in office.

Representative Linda Sanchez, Democrat of California, confronted Kennedy with a series of documented CDC website changes, including the removal of language explicitly recommending the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine as the primary means of outbreak prevention. "You took over a department whose entire mission is protecting public health," Sanchez said, her voice rising. "As a mother, this horrifies me. Children are getting measles because parents are confused about whether vaccines are safe, and your own agency has stopped telling them clearly that they are."

Kennedy pushed back repeatedly, insisting the outbreak had begun in January 2025, before his confirmation as secretary, and that the vaccination decisions made by parents of most affected children predated his tenure. He rejected the premise that his prior years of publicly questioning vaccine safety had contributed to declining immunization rates.

In a moment that drew extensive attention, Kennedy acknowledged under direct questioning that vaccination "could have" saved the life of a six-year-old child who died of measles in West Texas in February 2025 — though he stopped short of urging hesitant parents to vaccinate. He later told reporters outside the hearing room that the vaccine was "safe and effective for most people" — a qualifier that doctors said was harmful.

The CDC's most recent outbreak data, updated April 10, shows 17 distinct measles outbreaks active in 2026, with Utah accounting for 602 confirmed cases. Approximately 72 percent of confirmed cases in 2026 involve people under 19 years old, and roughly one-fifth are children under five. At least four deaths have been attributed to measles-related complications since the outbreak's start.

The U.S. achieved measles elimination status — defined as the absence of continuous endemic transmission for more than 12 months — in the year 2000. That status is now in jeopardy. The World Health Organization sets the threshold for herd immunity against measles at roughly 95 percent coverage with two doses of the MMR vaccine. CDC surveillance data shows national two-dose coverage among kindergartners has fallen to approximately 92.7 percent.

Republican committee members offered Kennedy a sharply different reception, praising his focus on food system reform and expressing support for his skepticism of pharmaceutical industry influence over public health agencies. "You're a breath of fresh air in this building," said Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina. But even some Republican members of the Senate HELP Committee privately expressed concern that the measles situation was becoming a political liability.

Kennedy is expected to testify before the Senate Finance Committee later this month on the HHS budget proposal.