As Kennedy tours West, frustrated Democrats demand meeting

Lia DeGroot, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 9, 2025

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WASHINGTON —At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado led a group of fellow Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee into the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters to demand a meeting with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the massive staff cuts that began last week.

About 30 minutes later, they reappeared outside — unsuccessful.

“They had us stand in the lobby and wait, and no response whatsoever from the secretary’s office was forthcoming,” said DeGette, ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. “Nobody came down to talk to us and nobody told us if the secretary could meet with us.”

Kennedy wasn’t in Washington on Wednesday. On his agenda was a visit with Navajo Nation leadership and a trip to a charter school as part of his tour this week through the southwest to tout his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

While Kennedy’s staff are set to meet with bipartisan staff from the Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday at 4 p.m., Democrats have said that it isn’t sufficient.

They want to hear from Kennedy himself.

Specifically, they want an in-person meeting with Kennedy as soon as possible. They also want Kennedy to testify in front of the Energy and Commerce Committee to answer questions on the cuts.

On Kennedy’s agenda Monday through Wednesday this week were visits to locations in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, where he is touting legislative efforts to remove soda from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, visit with health centers to train medical students on nutrition-based health clinics for chronic disease management, and engage with the Navajo Nation on food sovereignty initiatives and wellness programs.

That agenda did not include any programming related to the ongoing measles outbreak, which is sweeping through parts of New Mexico.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., who serves on the health subcommittee, said Wednesday Kennedy’s response to the measles outbreak has been insufficient.

After another measles death was recorded in Texas over the weekend, Kennedy said at the bottom of a long X post on Sunday that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.

“I agree,” Ruiz said. “But while he says that, he’s still cutting the grants that help us move the vaccines to protect children from measles.”

On Tuesday, House Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Robert C. Scott, D-Va., sent Kennedy a letter criticizing the restructuring and asking questions about the rationale behind it.

“I strongly urge you to go back to the drawing board, engage with Congress on organizational plans, and commit to transparency about those plans,” he wrote. “The entirety of the proposed reorganization lacks both detail and thoughtfulness.”

Democrats on that committee asked Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., to hold a hearing with Kennedy.

Kennedy was also invited to appear Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but he has not accepted the invitation.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he expects Kennedy to appear before the committee as part of the budget process. But DeGette on Wednesday opined that there is still no timeline for when he will testify.

“We are not giving up,” she said. “We need him to come and answer, and more importantly we need him to stop these devastating cuts.”

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