RFK. Jr's family members say he is a 'threat' to Americans' health and
call for his resignation
[September 08, 2025]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s family are
calling for him to step down as health secretary following a contentious
congressional hearing this past week, during which the Trump Cabinet
official faced bipartisan questioning about his tumultuous leadership of
federal health agencies.
Kennedy's sister, Kerry Kennedy, and his nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy III,
issued scathing statements Friday, calling for him to resign as head of
the Health and Human Services Department.
The calls from the prominent Democratic family came a day after Kennedy
had to defend his recent efforts to pull back COVID-19 vaccine
recommendations and fire high-level officials at the Centers for Disease
Control at a three-hour Senate hearing.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a threat to the health and wellbeing of every
American,” Joseph P. Kennedy III said in a post on X. The former
congressman added: “None of us will be spared the pain he is
inflicting.” His aunt echoed those claims, saying “medical decisions
belong in the hands of trained and licensed professionals, not
incompetent and misguided leadership.”
This is not the first time Kennedy has been the subject of his family's
ire. Several of his relatives had objected to his presidential run in
the last campaign, while others wrote to senators earlier this year,
calling for them to reject his nomination to be Trump's health secretary
due to views they considered disqualifying on life-saving vaccines.
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Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
appears before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in
Washington, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
 Kennedy, a longtime leader in the
anti-vaccine movement, has spent the last seven months implementing
his once-niche, grassroots movement to the highest level of
America’s public health system. The sweeping changes to the agencies
tasked with public health policy and scientific research have
resulted in thousands of layoffs and the remaking of vaccine
guidelines.
The moves — some of which contradict assurances he made during his
confirmation hearings — have rattled medical groups and officials in
several Democratic-led states, which have responded with their own
vaccine advice.
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