Suozzi pushes Kennedy on White House proposal to cut health department budget<\/p>\n
Representative Tom Suozzi, the moderate Democrat from New York, grilled Kennedy about the White House budget request <\/a>for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which seeks to cut more than $15bn for the 2027 fiscal year, while asking for $441bn more in defense department funding.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president is making a lot of tough decisions, and he\u2019s making tough decisions because of problems that he inherited,\u201d Kennedy said, defending the blueprint that will kickstart appropriations talks on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n \u201cYou say he\u2019s not cutting Medicaid. Nobody buys that,\u201d Suozzi replied. \u201cI want to be bipartisan. I want to work together. I\u2019ve applauded you on some of the things that you\u2019re doing that are good, but how does it square that he\u2019s increasing the defense budget by 500 billion and cutting money for NIH and CDC?\u201d<\/p>\n The health secretary insisted that Donald Trump<\/a> has done \u201cmore to protect public health any president\u201d and blamed Democrats for what he describes as a \u201cchronic disease epidemic\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAll happened in the past four years of the Biden administration?\u201d Suozzi snapped back<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.56 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Melody Schreiber<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s hearing before the House Ways and Means committee is back from recess. An explosive moment took place a short while ago. Representative Steven Horsford, a Democrat from Nevada, spoke about his constituents\u2019 struggle to access health care. \u201cCalm down, congressman,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t tell me to calm down. Health care is personal to me,\u201d Horsford said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t answer basic questions, then maybe come prepared next time.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy responded that Horsford was getting upset because he didn\u2019t \u201chave much to say\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.34 EDT<\/p>\n RFK Jr\u2019s hearing is now in recess so lawmakers can cast votes.<\/p>\n Earlier, the health and human services secretary had a heated exchange with Democratic representative Terri Sewell, of Alabama, who pressed Kennedy on his reported remarks that black children would benefit from \u201cwellness farms\u201d where they could be \u201cre-parented\u201d while weaning off psychiatric medications.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, on SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence, and those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get re-parented, to live in a community where there\u2019ll be no cellphones, no screens,\u201d Kennedy reportedly said<\/a> on the 19Keys podcast in June 2024. \u201cYou\u2019ll actually have to talk to people.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Kennedy said he doubted he said that, adding that he didn\u2019t know what \u201cre-parent\u201d means.<\/p>\n \u201cOur nation has a long and painful history of separating Black children from their families,\u201d Sewell said, referring to slavery, Jim Crow laws and systemic racial discrimination in policing and child welfare.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>House Republicans narrowly block latest bid to rein in Trump Iran war powers<\/p>\n The House of Representatives backed Donald Trump\u2019s military campaign against Iran on Thursday, narrowly voting to block a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war until hostilities are authorized by Congress.<\/p>\n The measure was defeated by 214 to 213 in the Republican-majority chamber, a day after a similar measure was blocked in the Senate for the fourth time<\/a>. The vote was almost exclusively along party lines, with every Republican except one (Thomas Massie) opposing the resolution, and one (Warren Davidson) voting present. One Democrat (Jared Golden) voted against it.<\/p>\n Federal law requires congressional approval to continue military actions for more than 60 days. The US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February. Some Senate Republicans<\/a> signaled yesterday that they may reassess their thinking on this issue if the war reaches 60 days.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.55 EDT<\/p>\n Further to that, Trump has said he\u2019s invited the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House for the countries\u2019 first high-level talks since 1983.<\/p>\n He wrote on Truth Social:<\/p>\n In addition to the statement just issued, I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago.<\/p>\n Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump announces Israel-Lebanon 10 day ceasefire<\/p>\n A short while ago, Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon will begin a ten-day ceasefire from 5pm EST.<\/p>\n In a post on Truth Social, he said he had spoken to the leaders of both countries today and claimed this would be the \u201ctenth war\u201d he has \u201csolved\u201d.<\/p>\n He wrote:<\/p>\n I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin\u2019 Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.<\/p>\n It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let\u2019s, GET IT DONE!<\/p>\n Israel, meanwhile, has no plans to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon during the ceasefire, an Israeli security official has told Reuters.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s punishing bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon has killed more than 2,100 people, injured over 7,100 and displaced over 1.2 million.<\/p>\n My colleague Tom Ambrose is blogging all the latest developments:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Melody Schreiber<\/p>\n Back at Robert F Kennedy Jr\u2019s hearing, representative Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah, spoke of his 10-year-old, Winnie, who is neurodivergent.<\/p>\n When the Trump administration<\/a> incorrectly said Tylenol use in pregnancy causes autism, he said, \u201cMy wife was hurt.\u201d She felt responsible, though they don\u2019t recall if she even took the pain reliever during pregnancy.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a hurtful moment for her,\u201d Moore said, before encouraging Kennedy to continue looking for the causes of autism, which research shows has a strong genetic component.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n During his hearing before House lawmakers, Robert F Kennedy Jr faced questions about the decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to end the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.<\/p>\n Congresswoman Judy Chu, a California Democrat, pushed the health secretary about the move, calling it \u201cincredibly harmful\u201d. Many doctors, including Republican senator Bill Cassidy, a liver specialist by training, have warned that universal innoculation is incredibly effective since hepatits B is very infectious for children and can lead to long-term complications.<\/p>\n Kennedy, however, maintained that babies \u201cessentially have zero risk unless their mother is infected\u201d.<\/p>\n The health secretary said that \u201cparents can assess the risk themselves\u201d and the \u201cstate should not make that choice for them\u201d.<\/p>\n Medical experts warn that a negative test result during pregnancy does not guarantee the child will not be infected with the hepatitis B. They point to both false negative results, but also the posibilty that mothers could contract the virus after screening.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.01 EDT<\/p>\n Richard Luscombe<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV<\/a> has said that the world is being \u201cravaged by a handful of tyrants\u201d who spend billions on war, in comments that will be seen as another sharp escalation in his almost week-long feud with the White House over the US-Israel war on Iran.<\/p>\n The first American-born pontiff did not mention Donald Trump<\/a> by name, but used his speech in Cameroon on Thursday to denounce world leaders that invoke religion to justify violence against other nations.<\/p>\n His comments came as US bishops offered their full-throated support<\/a> to the head of the Catholic church, who has been under fire from Trump for days after speaking out against the Iran war.<\/p>\n \u201cWoe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,\u201d Leo told a gathering at Saint Joseph Cathedral in the western city of Bamenda.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Senate Democrats push to postpone confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick to lead Federal Reserve<\/p>\n All Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee are urging Republican leadership to postpone the confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive that Donald Trump<\/a> has nominated to lead the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n In a letter to banking committee chair Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, eleven Democrats<\/a> called to delay proceedings currently scheduled for 21 April, until the investigations into current Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and governor Lisa Cook are closed.<\/p>\n Powell is facing a criminal probe into the ongoing renovation of the central bank, while the Trump administration<\/a> has tried to fire Cook for alleged mortgage fraud. The president\u2019s attempt to fire the Federal Reserve governor has made its way to the US supreme court, where justices appeared skeptical of the case for terminating Cook.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be absurd on its face to allow President Trump to handpick the next Chair of the Federal Reserve as his Department of Justice actively pursues criminal investigations of not one, but two sitting members of the Federal Reserve Board,\u2019\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cIt would also be inappropriate to move forward with Mr. Warsh\u2019s nomination as the President publicly threatens the federal judge who found the DOJ\u2019s probe to lack merit.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has continued to rail against James Boasberg, the chief judge of the DC district court, who blocked the justice department from seeking testimony from Powell over his remarks to Congress on the Federal Reserve\u2019s renovation project.<\/p>\n Boasberg said \u201ca mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning\u201d is his 27-page ruling last month.<\/p>\n In response, Trump called the jurist \u201cwacky, nasty, crooked, and totally out of control\u201d on Truth Social.<\/p>\n Warsh\u2019s nomination also faces hurdles from the president\u2019s own party. Outgoing GOP senator Thom Tillis, a deciding vote on the banking committee, has said repeatedly that he won\u2019t support any nomination as long as there is an investigation into Powell.<\/p>\n John Thune, the Senate majority leader, even called on the justice to \u201cwrap up\u201d its probe into Powell.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s in everybody\u2019s best interest to wrap up the investigation. I\u2019ve said that before, it would be better if it winds down,\u201d he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Trump, however, went on a lengthy tangent during a Fox Business interview this week about the Fed\u2019s renovations, alleging without evidence that it \u201cis probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetence\u201d, and seemed unfazed by the possibility that Tillis could block Warsh\u2019s confirmation<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Melody Schreiber<\/p>\n During his opening remarks, Kennedy focused on alleged fraud by home health aides. Federal payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have allowed aides, including family members, to take care of elderly and disabled people. \u201cThese are family members were getting paid to do things that they used to do as family members for free, and this is rife with fraud,\u201d Kennedy claimed. \u201cWe are paying for fraud now as much as for medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy mentioned food dyes, menopause treatments, and cuts to gender-affirming care, while addressing lawmakers on the House Ways and Means committee, but he didn\u2019t mention any of the administration\u2019s controversial actions on vaccines.<\/p>\n Lawmakers brought them up, though.<\/p>\n \u201cDid President Trump approve your decision to end CDC\u2019s pro-vaccine public messaging campaign?\u201d asked Linda S\u00e1nchez, a Democrat from California.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot of misinformation,\u201d Kennedy said. A tense exchange followed, with S\u00e1nchez repeating the question several times and Kennedy saying he wanted to address her misinformation and pointing to other global outbreaks, which have not made measles circulate in the US.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you don\u2019t want to answer the question, because I think you know the terrible, terrible decisions that impact very, very real lives, especially the lives of children,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.20 EDT<\/p>\n Democrats questioning Kennedy are making a point to point out the health secretary\u2019s routine vaccine scepticism.<\/p>\n In a particularly heated back and forth, Mike Thompson, a Democratic congressman asked whether Kennedy has a medical or public health degree.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d the health secretary answered.<\/p>\n \u201cYet you\u2019re overruling doctors, scientists and public health experts across our country. Your dangerous conspiracy theories are undermining safe and effective vaccines,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Melody Schreiber<\/p>\n During his opening remarks, Kennedy issued one of his common refrains. \u201cWe stand at a generational turning point. Our children are the sickest generation in modern history,\u201d the health secretary told the House Ways and Means Committee.<\/p>\n Kennedy says he\u2019s referring to chronic illness \u2013 perhaps he\u2019s talking about obesity and other health conditions, though he uses the phrase to talk about autism. But in fact, this generation has less infectious disease and Americans still have long expected lifespans. It\u2019s difficult to know what Kennedy means, other than fear-mongering about children\u2019s health and development.<\/p>\n Democrats pushed Kennedy on Medicare fraud, and the hearing quickly turned acrimonious. \u201cWere you shocked to see that 850 people who were suspended for fraud had been reinstated all at once?\u201d Congressman Lloyd Doggett asked. \u201cYour administration was the one that let them all go back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy spoke over Doggett several times. \u201cIt\u2019s not a credible story,\u201d he said of Trump\u2019s reinstatement of fraudulent Medicare agents.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that it\u2019s a packed day for Kennedy. He\u2019ll wrap up his first hearing at 12:30pm ET today, before heading to a second round of questions from House lawmakers at a subcommittee of the appropriations committee at 2pm ET.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Kennedy testifies before Congress over healthcare agenda and latest budget request<\/p>\n Robert F Kennedy Jr, the president\u2019s health secretary, is currently testifying before the House Ways and Means committee, as part of a sprint of hearings before members of Congress about his leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House budget request for the 2027 fiscal year.<\/p>\n As I reported earlier this month, Donald Trump\u2019s blueprint pushes lawmakers to appropriate funding to establish the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). This, you may remember, is health secretary Kennedy\u2019s planned consolidation <\/a>of many subagencies whose workforces he slashed last year. Last year, Congress didn\u2019t provide funding for AHA, but in 2027 the administration is hoping to secure funding as part of the $111bn it requests fo the wider HHS.<\/p>\n Notably, the Trump administation is hoping to cut $5bn in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has seen wholesale cuts to research, grants and funding since the president returned to office.<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s HHS has been roiled with chaos over the last year. The president has yet to nominate a permanent director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Donald Trump\u2019s controversial pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, remains in limbo as her nomination stalls in the Senate.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the health secretary\u2019s Make America Health Again (Maha) agenda has been hampered in recent months. In March, a federal judge ruled that the appointment of a controversial slate of vaccine advisers, appointed by Kennedy, likely violated the law. Similarly, all votes made by those advisers was also invalidated. This includes ending the recommendation for the combination measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and chickenpox vaccine; and the end of the universal birth dose recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine. The atest version of flu and Covid shots, and the inclusion of the RSV shot for infants are also no longer recommended.<\/p>\n Robert F Kennedy Jr testifies on the Trump administration’s budget cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, 16 April 2026. Photograph: Heather Diehl\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Trump will spend the first half of the day in meetings at the White House, before heading to Las Vegas, where he\u2019ll talk about tax cuts enacted through his sweeping policy bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last year.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll deliver remarks around 4pm PT, but we\u2019ll bring you the latest in case the president speaks to the press before that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.56 EDT<\/p>\n Tom Ambrose<\/p>\n Asked whether there is any update on the welfare of the new Iranian supreme leader, Hegseth says his status \u201cremains the same\u201d.<\/p>\n He adds that Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to be alive, wounded and disfigured.<\/p>\n