Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday that he doesn’t “think people should be taking advice — medical advice — from me.”
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“That’s kind of your jurisdiction,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., in response.
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Kennedy’s comments came during a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee on the Trump administration’s budget request for 2026. Pocan had asked the secretary if he had a child today, would he vaccinate that child for measles. “Um… probably for measles,” Kennedy said before making his comment about his own advice. He also suggested that his own views about vaccines are irrelevant.
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Kennedy is a former environmental lawyer and not a doctor. For nearly a decade, he led an anti-vaccine advocacy group, Children’s Health Defense. As the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he oversees multiple agencies that affect public health and Americans’ access to health care.
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