Sen. Thom Tillis questions HHS Secretary Kennedy on COVID vaccines, CDC firings
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sen. Tillis challenged Secretary Kennedy over vaccine stance and CDC firings.
- Kennedy offered conflicting views on COVID vaccines and Operation Warp Speed.
- Tillis questioned Medicaid impact and cited lack of data as reason to exit race.
Happy Monday! It’s Danielle Battaglia with the latest edition of Under the Dome focused on President Donald Trump’s administration.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified for three hours before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Thursday morning in a meeting that proved to be contentious with criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
This is the committee that approved Kennedy’s nomination by Trump to lead HHS before it went before the full Senate for final approval. And there were senators who felt they had been duped by some of his initial testimony, when he assured them he would not take away vaccines and would empower agency scientists.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, asked him about both statements during Thursday’s hearing.
“I do also believe that some of your statements seem to contradict what you said in the prior hearing,” Tillis said. “You said you’re going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job. I’d like to see evidence where you’ve done that and I’m sure you will have some.”
He reminded Kennedy of his confirmation hearing testimony that he “will do nothing that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking the vaccines.” Tillis said there seems to be several reports that refute that.
Kennedy confused senators Thursday by testifying that he’s not anti-vaccine, nor are vaccines safe and effective. And he criticized the COVID vaccines while agreeing that Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the program that helped propel the creation of COVID vaccines.
“I can’t conclude from the discussion today where you are on Warp Speed,” Tillis said. “So I would like a definitive statement on exactly where you are. Was it good? Was it bad? Were there things that worked? Were there things that didn’t work? I can’t discern that from what you said. I, for one, think that it was a signature accomplishment of President Trump.”
Kennedy said he agreed, but Tillis told Kennedy he wants a detailed statement on where he stands on the matter.
Tillis questioned Kennedy over firing CDC Director Susan Monarez four weeks after the Senate confirmed her. He advised Kennedy on how to conduct the hiring process in the future to prevent wasting the Senate’s time.
Tillis also questioned Kennedy about the impact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would have on North Carolina’s Medicaid program, saying he’s still looking for somebody who can prove him wrong that it will cost 663,000 people their Medicaid coverage. His frustration over this estimate, and the measure moving forward, led to Tillis ending his reelection campaign.
“I want somebody to destroy my estimates, because to this point, the most resourced health agency in the world has only given me word salad responses, and I need that so we can prepare for the response,” Tillis said.
Thursday’s hearing turned into a bit of a screaming match between Kennedy and several senators on both sides of the aisle, who flung accusations back and forth. When the committee’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, turned to Tillis for his five minutes, Tillis said he would take a different approach and give Kennedy a breather and instead of having Kennedy answer his questions, he wanted Kennedy to produce the answers in writing later.
After the hearing, Tillis told Capitol Hill reporters in the hallway, “I’m concerned that we’re diminishing the credibility of the CDC. We could be diminishing the credibility of the U.S. government in terms of keeping kids safe.”
What else we worked on
- Gov. Josh Stein called for more funding from the federal government as North Carolina approaches the one year anniversary of Helene, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan reports.
- The guidelines for offering COVID vaccines are changing and making it more difficult for most Americans to get the shot. Evan Moore has more about the new guidelines and who is offering the vaccine.
- If Congress doesn’t act, the National Flood Insurance Program is set to expire on Sept. 30. Chantal Allam tells you what comes next and how it could affect you.
- Nine hundred employees at the Environmental Protection Agency campus at the Research Triangle Park lost their union protections and firing protections due to a Trump order, Brian Gordon reports.
- A well-known Duke University bus driver is among the tens of thousands of Hondurans whose legal status is set to end today due to a decision by the Trump administration. He’s asking for the community’s help, Avi Bajpai reports. He also reports that the Trump administration is ending Temporary Protective Status for immigrants from several countries.
That’s it for now. Be kind to each other. And check back tomorrow for the Under the Dome podcast.
If you have any feedback or tips for this edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
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This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
