AT A GLANCE
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family, including Joseph P. Kennedy III and Kerry Kennedy, publicly demanded his resignation as health secretary.
- The calls follow a heated Senate hearing over Kennedy’s vaccine policies and CDC upheaval.
- Reports suggest Kennedy plans to link acetaminophen (Tylenol) use in pregnancy to autism, despite decades of research showing no causal link.
- Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams and several senators also urged President Trump to remove Kennedy.
Kennedy’s Family Breaks Ranks
Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family are openly urging him to step down as secretary of Health and Human Services following a bruising congressional hearing over his leadership of federal health agencies.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American,” former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III wrote on X. “None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting.”
Kerry Kennedy, the secretary’s sister, issued her own rebuke, stressing that “medical decisions belong in the hands of trained and licensed professionals, not incompetent and misguided leadership.”
The latest clash continues a long history of the Kennedy family distancing themselves from RFK Jr.’s political ventures. Several opposed his 2024 presidential campaign, and earlier this year, family members lobbied senators to reject his nomination to lead HHS over his stance on vaccines.
Contentious Senate Hearing on Vaccines and CDC Shakeups
Kennedy endured bipartisan grilling in a three-hour Senate hearing last week. Lawmakers questioned his decision to fire top CDC officials and limit updated COVID-19 vaccine approvals to a narrow group of people.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed him on whether restricting vaccine access was endangering public health. Kennedy fired back: “I’m not going to recommend a product for which there’s no clinical data for that indication. Is that what I should be doing?”
His leadership has already triggered resignations at the CDC, including the agency’s director, and sparked alarm among public health leaders nationwide.
Autism Report Fuels Controversy
Adding fuel to the fire, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kennedy is preparing to announce findings linking acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy to autism, alongside claims involving folate deficiencies.
The announcement, teased for September, immediately rattled markets. Shares in Kenvue, Tylenol’s parent company, fell more than 9% Friday after the Journal story.
Medical experts, however, say decades of research have consistently shown acetaminophen to be safe during pregnancy. A 2024 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found no association between acetaminophen use and autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability.
“RFK Jr. and those he supports have a long history of ignoring very large scale, well-controlled studies…promoting findings from much smaller studies with suspect methods,” said Brian Lee, an epidemiologist at Drexel University.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reaffirmed acetaminophen’s safety, warning pregnant people not to be misled by “unfounded challenges.”
Political and Scientific Pushback
Kennedy’s critics are not limited to his family. Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN that President Trump should fire Kennedy immediately, saying he is “uniquely damaging the credibility of federal agencies like the CDC, NIH, and FDA.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto called Kennedy “dangerous” and unfit to serve in his current role.
Despite the outcry, Kennedy defended his decisions at the hearing, arguing that his changes were necessary “to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency.”
What Comes Next
Kennedy has promised a sweeping report on autism in September, a project he has described as the centerpiece of his tenure at HHS. But with mounting family opposition, bipartisan criticism in Congress, and eroding trust from medical professionals, his future in the Trump Cabinet is in serious question.
