7 key issues we’re watching as RFK Jr. faces a Congressional gauntlet

WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a delicate task ahead of him as he heads to Capitol Hill to testify about the fiscal 2027 budget request: Stick to the White House’s script on Make America Healthy Again “wins” while avoiding politically divisive topics like vaccines. 

How he navigates lawmakers’ questions over at least seven hearings will test whether the secretary can stay on message before he embarks on a midterms tour to shore up support for the MAHA movement and the White House’s agenda. 

Thursday’s hearings are Kennedy’s first since a heated Senate Finance Committee appearance in September, where tempers rose as Kennedy defended his firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez. 

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