Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was forced to walk back his words after he accused a Democratic lawmaker of accepting millions from the pharmaceutical industry, and claimed that those contributions affected his ability to do his job.
The request for RFK Jr. to do so came after a heated exchange with New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, where the lawmaker questioned him over the recent firing of a vaccine advisory committee.
“You have made a number of major decisions about vaccines, and there’s been no public comment process or public accountability on that either. What are you afraid of? With regard to vaccines, are you just afraid to receive public comments on proposals?” Pallone asked.
PALLONE: With regard to vaccines, are you just afraid to receive public comments on proposals? There’s been no public process
RFK JR: We have a public process for regulating vaccines. It’s called the ACIP committee.
PALLONE: You fired the committee! pic.twitter.com/H3gvQWV0jL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 24, 2025
“We have a public process for regulating vaccines. It’s called the ACIP committee and it’s a public meeting—” RFK Jr. responded before Pallone cut him off.
“You fired the committee,” he stated. The health secretary let go of all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this month. At the time, Kennedy defended the decision, saying that the Trump administration would not have been able to appoint most new members until 2028.
During the Tuesday hearing, RFK Jr. stated that he “fired people who had conflicts with the pharmaceutical industry.” He claimed that the “committee has been a template for medical malpractice for years.”
Pallone went on to accuse Kennedy of being “anti-science and anti-vaccine.”
The health secretary later appeared to accuse Pallone of letting political donations impact his work and stances, particularly on issues having to do with the pharmaceutical industry.
“Fifteen years ago, [when] you and I met, you were at that time a champion for people who had suffered injuries from vaccines. You were very adamant about it, you were the leading member of Congress on that issue,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr is so mad at Pallone for criticizing him that he smears him as corrupt, prompting DeGette to jump in and force RFK Jr to retract his words pic.twitter.com/uwyuAKFEKe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 24, 2025
“Since then you’ve accepted $2 million dollars from pharmaceutical companies in contribution — more than any other member of this committee. Your enthusiasm for supporting the old ACIP committee, which was completely rife and pervasive with pharmaceutical conflicts, seems to be an outcome of those conflicts,” he continued.
Kennedy’s assertion prompted Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette to jump in and ask him to retract the statement.
“The secretary implied that Mr. Pallone would not fight for vaccine victims because he took money from the pharmaceutical industry. He needs to take back those words,” she said.
RFK Jr. then agreed to “retract those words” following a request from the chairman of the Health Subcommittee for the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Originally published on Latin Times
