{"id":1466189,"date":"2026-04-30T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/?p=1466189"},"modified":"2026-04-30T09:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:32:45","slug":"rfk-jr-congress-hearings-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2026\/04\/30\/rfk-jr-congress-hearings-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress must hold RFK Jr. accountable after hearings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our former colleagues in Congress recently heard from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the first time in more than half a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several congressional committees held hearings with Kennedy as they examined the Trump administration\u2019s budget priorities. It was a key opportunity for lawmakers to build on the administration\u2019s significant health policy achievements \u2014 and for the most part, they seized it. While Democrats were predictably critical of the secretary\u2019s every move, Republicans wisely pushed back on the administration\u2019s proposal to reduce funding for the National Institutes of Health. And with good reason. Sustained NIH funding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0264410X21002905\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">underpins<\/a> the research and development pipeline that makes vaccines possible at a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fightinfectiousdisease.org\/post\/new-poll-2-in-3-voters-prefer-congressional-candidates-who-support-vaccine-access\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">voter polling<\/a> shows Americans want leaders that support vaccine access.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2026\/04\/30\/rfk-jr-congress-hearings-engagement\/?utm_campaign=api\">Read the rest\u2026<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Burgess and Larry Bucshon, former Republican congressmen and doctors, weigh in on RFK Jr.\u2019s recent congressional hearings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":784,"featured_media":1460711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"stat_display_restriction_not_latest":false,"stat_featured_image_caption":"Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently testified before Congress.","stat_featured_image_nocrop":false,"stat_featured_image_focal_point":{"x":0.5,"y":0.5},"stat_article_wordmark_img":[],"stat_article_wordmark_url":"","stat_article_wordmark_height":"125px","stat_article_wordmark_enable":false,"stat_article_subheadline":"Lawmakers must address the policy changes that will affect America\u2019s public health safeguards","stat_paywall_restrict":false,"footnotes":"","stat_article_enhanced_byline":"Bucshon and Burgess both served in Congress as Republicans after decades practicing as a cardiothoracic surgeon and a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology, respectively.","stat_article_newsletter_id":"first_opinion","stat_article_header_color_scheme":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":43,"stat_paywall_move_flag":0},"categories":[43,8649],"tags":[585,783,669,208263],"authors":[210022,209372],"class_list":["post-1466189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-opinion","category-politics","tag-congress","tag-nih","tag-public-health","tag-rfk-jr"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271622646-1024x683.jpg","coauthors":[{"avatar":"","display_name":"Michael C. Burgess","author_page":"","first_name":"","title":"","bio":"","email_address":"","email_url":"","twitter_url":"https:\/\/x.com\/michaelcburgess","twitter_handle":"@michaelcburgess","facebook_url":"","linkedin_url":"","web_url":"","bluesky_url":"","bluesky_handle":""},{"avatar":"","display_name":"Larry Bucshon","author_page":"","first_name":"","title":"","bio":"","email_address":"","email_url":"","twitter_url":"https:\/\/x.com\/RepLarryBucshon","twitter_handle":"@RepLarryBucshon","facebook_url":"","linkedin_url":"","web_url":"","bluesky_url":"","bluesky_handle":""}],"stat_card_curation":{"image_id":1460711,"title":"","excerpt":"","video_id":0,"disable_topic_image_curation":false},"template_inline_styles":{"global_styles":":root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4\/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3\/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3\/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2\/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16\/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 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