Sen. Patty Murray and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the hearing. (Getty Images)
"What have you done about it? Kennedy shot back. What have you done about the epidemic of chronic disease?"
As the two continued talking over one another, the subcommittee chair, Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, asked Kennedy to "hold back and let the senator ask the questions."
"Mr. Secretary, I'm asking you a question about child care," Murray continued. "I'm asking you who made the decision to withhold child care and development block grant funding?"
"That was made by my department," Kennedy responded.
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Kennedy appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday morning to answer questions related to HHS' budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. The hearing comes just after Kennedy joined lawmakers in both a Senate hearing and a House hearing, both of which included fiery exchanges between Kennedy and Democrat lawmakers.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee May 20, 2025, to answer questions related to Health and Human Services budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./The Associated Press)
"You came here to argue with me," Murray added. "I came here to ask you questions about your budget request. Your budget request is asking us to cut dramatically. But I am also making the point that Senator Baldwin made, that what you are doing right now is enacting your budget, that Congress has not passed, by cutting critical funding across the board."
The Washington Democrat previously exchanged barbs with Kennedy Wednesday, when Murray accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of delaying critical cancer care for one of her constituents.
"Mr. Secretary, one of my constituents … she's a mom of two from Bainbridge Island in Washington state," Murray said in her opening line of questioning Wednesday. "She has been fighting aggressive stage four colorectal cancer for nearly five years now. Her best hope now is a clinical trial she's participating in at the [National Institutes of Health's] Clinical Center."
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Washington Democrat Sen. Patty Murray previously exchanged barbs with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when Murray accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of delaying critical cancer care for one of her constituents. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
"But because of the thoughtless mass firing of thousands of critical employees across NIH and HHS that you carried out, Natalie's doctors at that clinical center have told her they have no choice but to delay her treatment by an additional four weeks."
"I can't tell you that now, Sen. Murray," Kennedy responded. "What I can tell you is that if you contact my office tomorrow, I'll look specifically into that."
However, that answer from Kennedy was "not acceptable" to the senator.
"That is not acceptable," Murray shot back, eventually demanding Kennedy provide her an update on Natalie's case within 24 hours. "I want an answer."
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Kennedy added during Tuesday's hearing that Murray's constituent had qualified for the clinical trial "this week," adding that "we shouldn't be talking about patients' private information," with Murray agreeing.
Fox News Digital's Alec Schemmel contributed to this article.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rfk-jr-slams-democrat-fiery-hearing-says-senator-presided-over-destruction-us-health-decades