[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 217 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 217
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Secretary of Health and Human
Services Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. does not have the confidence of
the Senate or of the American people to faithfully carry out the duties
of his office.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 12, 2025
Ms. Alsobrooks (for herself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, and Ms. Warren)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Secretary of Health and Human
Services Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. does not have the confidence of
the Senate or of the American people to faithfully carry out the duties
of his office.
Whereas, while serving as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred
to in this preamble as the ``Secretary''), Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy
Jr., in violation of his constitutional oath, has engaged in a pattern
of conduct that is incompatible with his constitutional and statutory
duties as the Secretary, including by--
(1) failing to meet his obligations under section 1701 of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u), including the obligation to support
``research and demonstrations respecting health information and health
promotion, preventive health services, and education in the appropriate use
of health care'' and to increase ``the application and use of health
knowledge, skills, and practices by the general population in its patterns
of daily living'';
(2) failing to meet his obligations under sections 402 and 464z-3 of
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282; 285t), wherein it is clear
that the congressional intent of National Institutes of Health research is
to support programs for research, research training, and recruitment that
``provide for an increase in the number of women and individuals from
disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial and ethnic minorities) in the
fields of biomedical and behavioral research'' and to support research and
training ``with respect to minority health conditions and other populations
with health disparities'';
(3) failing to meet his obligations under the many statutes that govern
the programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (referred to in
this preamble as the ``Department'') and appropriate funding for the
Department to administer such programs, in violation of Federal law and the
Constitution of the United States, through his directed reduction in force
and reorganization of Department functions, which was initiated with little
regard to the impact of the reductions on congressionally mandated
activities, the efficacy of government programs and services, or the very
legality of the reductions; and
(4) failing to meet his obligations under the Older Americans Act of
1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), the Developmental Disabilities Assistance
and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15001 et seq.), and the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), which together entrust
the Secretary with ensuring both older Americans and individuals with
disabilities are afforded the inherent dignity they are entitled to,
including living where they choose with the ability to fully participate in
their communities;
Whereas, under the direction of political leadership, the National Institutes of
Health has sent hundreds of letters to Federal grant recipients at
public research institutions announcing that various grants have been
terminated because they ``no longer effectuate agency priorities'',
resulting in delays and terminations that have caused direct, immediate,
significant, and irreparable harm to the States and to public research
institutions;
Whereas, on March 24, 2025, the Department abruptly and arbitrarily terminated
$11,000,000,000 of critical public health funding from States across the
country, jeopardizing disease surveillance programs, substance abuse
services, emergency preparedness initiatives, and funding to modernize
State programs for childhood immunization and access to vaccinations,
causing serious harm to public health and leaving States at risk for
pandemics and the spread of disease;
Whereas these terminations exceeded the Secretary's statutory authority and are
unlawful under subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Administrative Procedure
Act'');
Whereas in late February of 2025, the Secretary and the Director of the National
Institutes of Health launched a ``reckless and illegal purge'' of
hundreds of research projects because they allegedly had ``some alleged
connection to `gender identity' or diversity, equity, and inclusion'',
when in reality, this new mandate was used as a guise to cut research
from diverse researchers, diverse populations, or research related to
health disparities;
Whereas, according to court filings, this research included grants for
Alzheimer's research, research on disparities in pregnancy health,
violence prevention among children, and the efficacy of preventative HIV
medications, and as a result of these actions, ``scientific advancements
will be delayed, treatments will go undiscovered, human health with be
compromised, and lives will be lost'';
Whereas 2 days after being sworn in as the Secretary, 5,200 probationary workers
across multiple agencies of the Department received termination notices,
in which these workers were told that they were ``not fit for continued
employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the
Agency's current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to
justify further employment at the Agency'';
Whereas, on March 27, 2025, the Secretary announced that the Department would
begin to terminate an additional 10,000 employees as part of a broader
effort to push 20,000 Federal civil servants out of Federal health
agencies and consolidate divisions;
Whereas, on April 1, 2025, the termination notices began, with consequences that
were, according to litigation, ``severe, complicated, and potentially
irreversible'';
Whereas, on April 1, 2025, most of the staff from the 8 Offices of Minority
Health across the Department were eliminated at the Secretary's
direction as part of a Department-wide reorganization, including the
entire Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services;
Whereas sections 1707 and 1707A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300u-6; 300u-6a) mandate the existence of these offices and section
10334(b)(3) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C.
300u-6a note; Public Law 111-148) specifically prohibits the termination
or reorganization of these offices absent an Act of Congress;
Whereas the Secretary has undertaken mass firings at the Administration for
Children and Families, reducing the agency's staffing footprint by 35 to
40 percent, that endanger children and seniors and undermine the
provision of essential services like child care, Head Start, adoption
and foster care, and adult and child protective services;
Whereas the Secretary has initiated steps to reorganize the Administration for
Community Living, terminating half of the staff at the Department that
work on Federal aging and disability programs and causing real harm to
programs that support more than 11,000,000 seniors and 70,000,000
Americans with disabilities;
Whereas critical programs of the Administration for Community Living, such as
the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs, which protect the health
and safety of individuals living in long-term care facilities, will be
eliminated, and other programs will be scattered across agencies that do
not focus specifically on aging and disabilities;
Whereas staff at numerous Freedom of Information Act offices at the Department
have been eliminated, eroding the American people's ability to
instrumentalize their right to government transparency and
accountability;
Whereas 23 States have initiated numerous lawsuits against both Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. in his official capacity as the Secretary of Health and
Human Services and the Department of Health and Human Services,
underscoring the illegality of the Secretary's actions, and the ways in
which both the Secretary and the Department are undermining public
health;
Whereas leading health research organizations and individual researchers have
filed a lawsuit against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his official capacity
as the Secretary of Health and Human Services for breaching his
statutory authority under subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of
title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Administrative
Procedure Act'') by acting contrary to congressional mandates requiring
the National Institutes of Health to promote health equity and address
health disparities;
Whereas 20 States filed a lawsuit against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his official
capacity as the Secretary of Health and Human Services for his arbitrary
and capricious directive to conduct an abrupt reduction in force and
reorganization of the Department, which violates the Appropriations
Clause of section 9 of article I of the Constitution of the United
States and the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers;
Whereas the Secretary's illegal termination of National Institutes of Health
research grants and the subsequent termination of Federal employees
working at Federal health agencies, as well as the elimination of a
number of Centers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
Institutes of the National Institutes of Health will undermine efforts
to combat chronic disease;
Whereas the Secretary eliminated staff at the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion, the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and
Tuberculosis Prevention, the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health, the National Center for Environmental Health, and the
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, among
others;
Whereas these actions will stifle efforts to research, prevent, and treat
Americans living with Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma,
blood disorders, and many other chronic conditions;
Whereas it was reported that in order to secure support for his nomination from
certain Republican Senators, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. committed that, as
Secretary, he would maintain the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices, the critical vaccine panel that advises the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines to control disease
in the United States;
Whereas immediately after making that promise, the Secretary went back on his
word, abruptly cancelling the February meeting of the Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices, and suggesting that he was preparing to
remove experts from the committee;
Whereas the Secretary continued to breed distrust in our scientific institutions
by saying in his Senate testimony and maiden speech as Secretary that
``we will remove conflicts of interest from the committees and research
partners'', alleging without evidence that Federal vaccine advisers are
not acting in the best interest of public health and safety;
Whereas in his first speech as Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to
investigate the scientifically supported childhood vaccine schedule,
saying ``nothing is going to be off limits'';
Whereas the Secretary subsequently pushed out esteemed career civil servants,
including Dr. Peter Marks, the Director of the Center for Biologics
Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration, the
regulator responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of
vaccinations;
Whereas in his resignation letter, Dr. Marks cast a light on the Secretary's
political interference and misinformation that was undermining the work
of the Food and Drug Administration, stating, ``it has become clear that
truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he
wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies'';
Whereas, in his answers to questions for the record following his nomination
hearing before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
of the Senate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, ``I will do nothing as HHS
Secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking
vaccines but instead seek transparency in these products'';
Whereas the Secretary has instead used his position to continue to discredit the
science behind vaccines, stoke fear about the efficacy and safety of
vaccines, and dismantle vaccine approval and education programs;
Whereas the National Institutes of Health halted funding for at least 40
research grants for projects studying vaccine hesitancy and paths to
overcome it;
Whereas the National Institutes of Health cancelled funding for studies seeking
new vaccines and treatments for both COVID-19 and other pathogens that
may cause future pandemics, requested project lists regarding mRNA
vaccines, the technology at the center of COVID-19 vaccinations, and
have been urging scientists to remove references to such technology from
their grant applications, raising fears that projects relating to mRNA
vaccines are next on the chopping block;
Whereas after the Food and Drug Administration delayed granting a license to a
COVID-19 vaccine in April, the Secretary falsely declared that ``for
respiratory illnesses, the single antigen vaccines have never worked'';
Whereas through the Secretary's reduction in force and reorganization efforts,
the Department has eliminated entirely or reduced the functionality of
the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Division
of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases;
Whereas, during the Secretary's first week on the job, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention announced that it was stopping a flu vaccination
advertising campaign during the height of flu season;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a multi-
State measles outbreak impacting communities with low measles
vaccination coverage in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas has been raging
during the Secretary's tenure, with the number of reported cases already
through mid-April representing an 180 percent increase over the entirety
of reported measles cases in the past year;
Whereas 96 percent of these patients have been unvaccinated or had unknown
vaccination status;
Whereas this measles outbreak has resulted in 727 hospitalizations and 3 deaths,
including 2 unvaccinated school-aged children with no known underlying
medical conditions;
Whereas, while measles was declared eliminated in 2000, largely due to the
Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (referred to in this preamble as the
``MMR vaccine'') being 97 percent effective in preventing measles, this
outbreak under the Secretary's watch represents the largest single
measles outbreak in 25 years;
Whereas instead of vocal support for the MMR vaccine, the Secretary has uplifted
untested treatments like cod liver supplements, vitamin A treatments,
the antibiotic clarithromycin, or the asthma steroid budensonide;
Whereas, on May 2, 2025, the Secretary directed Federal health agencies to
explore potential new treatments for measles, including vitamin A
treatments;
Whereas vaccine safety experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the American Academy of Pediatrics have found no conclusive link
between autism and vaccines that contain thimerosal as a preservative,
yet the Secretary has used inconsistent and often contradictory
messaging around the MMR vaccine, questioning the MMR vaccine's safety
by incorrectly saying ``we don't know the risks of many of these
products because they're not safety tested,'' ignoring the decades of
scientific research behind the vaccine proving that the vaccine is safe,
and routinely misrepresenting the potential for adverse events from the
vaccine, sowing fear in the public about vaccine use;
Whereas the Secretary has downplayed the deaths associated with the measles
outbreak, saying that more attention should be paid towards chronic
diseases like diabetes and autism, while at the same time falsely
claiming that there may be a relationship between the MMR vaccine and
autism;
Whereas, on April 30, 2025, the Secretary made the false claim that the MMR
vaccine contains ``aborted fetus debris'', further perpetuating fears
and stigma about the vaccine;
Whereas this is only the latest in a series of mistruths regarding the MMR
vaccine that the Secretary has used his bully pulpit and position of
leadership as the Secretary to promote;
Whereas, in his answers to questions for the record following his nomination
hearing before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
of the Senate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, ``addressing maternal
mortality, and its underlying causes, will be a priority in my
leadership of HHS'', yet as the Secretary, he has decimated Department
divisions and offices responsible for protecting the health of women and
their babies;
Whereas the Secretary's illegal reorganization and unlawful mass firings at the
Department have devastated the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's Assisted Reproductive Technologies office (which focuses on
infertility and in vitro fertilization research), Division of
Reproductive Health, Women's Health and Fertility branch, and Office of
Women's Health, and the Health Resources and Services Administration's
Maternal and Child Health Bureau;
Whereas the Secretary has made a series of offensive and scientifically
unfounded statements about autism, perpetuating harmful stereotypes,
disreg