HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went head-to-head with Senate Democrats today over major proposed budget cuts, including $18 billion slashed from the NIH and $3.6 billion from the CDC. But for many Democrats, you’d think it was the end of the world. Kennedy stood his ground. “We’re cutting waste, we’re cutting duplicative programs,” he said. Still, Baldwin wouldn’t let up. She framed the loss of “3,200 fewer grants” as an attack on “life-saving programs.” Kennedy hit back with a devastating stat. “We spend 70% of the world’s biomedical research out of NIH. 70%. And we’re the sickest country in the world,” he said. Sen. Kennedy sarcastically asked, “Is this the first time that an institution in America has ever downsized?” Senator Kennedy argued the best way to increase medical research funding was to “stop the stealing.” He explained how universities misuse taxpayer dollars: “Let’s suppose NIH gives a university $100 million for medical research. That university takes $30 million of it, doesn’t spend it on the research, and uses it to subsidize the rest of their university. Does that show a commitment to medical research?” he asked facetiously. With his last question, Sen. Kennedy asked RFK Jr., “ Why do we allow highly processed foods in America?” “That’s a complicated question,” RFK Jr. replied, “but it’s driven by profits to a food industry that is making money by poisoning American kids.” He added, “And they don’t do it abroad. They make the same products for Canada and for Europe that do not contain many of those chemicals.” https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/sen-john-kennedy-obliterates-democrats-hhs-narrative-this/ 
Sen. John Kennedy Obliterates Democrats’ HHS Narrative—This Exchange Changed Everything:
