Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced pushback on the Health and Human Services budget during two congressional hearings on Wednesday and protest during one that reportedly resulted in the arrest of Ben and Jerry's cofounder Ben Cohen.
Kennedy testified during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions and before a House Committee on Appropriations hearing on a reconciliation budget plan that has moved to the House after getting clearance from a House Committee on Energy and Commerce markup.
The budget includes $715 billion in cuts to Medicaid and could also affect premium tax credits in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
HELP Committee ranking member Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., grilled Kennedy on the cuts, saying the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the $715 billion Medicaid funding decrease in the reconciliation bill would result in 13.7 million Americans losing their healthcare coverage.
"The cuts are not true cuts," Kennedy said to Sanders. "The cuts are eliminations of waste, abuse and fraud."
Kennedy also said, "Obamacare is not working" but added that President Donald Trump wants everyone to have access to health insurance.
Sanders also asked if it made sense to throw more than 13 million people off of Medicaid when the same bill includes $235 billion in tax breaks for the top 2/10th of 1% (0.2%) of wealthiest Americans.
Kennedy said the president is not trying to give billionaires tax cuts.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., commended Kennedy for putting forward less spending.
Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician, said much of HHS' agenda has been set by the media and by people with a bias against the president, but that Kennedy must make the case that reforms will make people's lives better.
During the hearing, Ben & Jerry's Cohen was among seven people arrested at the hearing, according to NBC News.
Protesters held signs with one shouting, "RFK kills people with AIDS," the report said. Cohen reportedly stood and accused Congress of playing a role in the deaths of children in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Kennedy said during opening remarks that the FY 2026 budget request includes reforms to put healthcare spending on a sustainable fiscal path.
"We must remake the government to maximize efficiency and productivity in order to fulfill the president's promise to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)," Kennedy said. "HHS has made progress towards these goals, promoting the health of Americans while instituting significant workforce reductions and identifying over $13 billion anticipated in contract savings – and there is more to come. Over the next few months, we will work together with Congress to restructure the department and improve how we deliver services to the American people.
"Protecting the health of Americans has to be done hand in hand with protecting our nation's fiscal health – they rely on each other. The FY 2026 budget will reduce duplication of programs and services, increase accountability, and work with state and local governments to improve flexibility."
The HHS restructuring will, he said, save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce by aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will streamline the functions of the department by consolidating 28 divisions into 15, including a new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA.
It will centralize core functions such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, External Affairs and Policy, he said.
The restructuring plan intends to reduce regional offices from 10 to five by closing regional offices in high-cost cities, he said. This restructuring will reduce the number of full-time employees to approximately 62,000, while preserving critical staff such as FDA food safety inspectors.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org