Sens. Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff call on HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign

“The destruction of the CDC in Georgia, the systematic dismantling of American public health is putting children and families across the country at risk every single day," Ossoff said. "This is chaos.”

Today, Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) calling on U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy to step down.

Warnock was one of many elected officials questioning Kennedy at Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing. Last month, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union found that at least 600 CDC employees had been fired. Last week, CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez was fired from by the Trump administration after less than a month in the role.

“You are a hazard to the health of the American people,” Warnock said. “I think that you ought to resign.”

Kennedy was grilled during the hearing on access to vaccines. Kennedy argued he’s not “anti-vax” but pro-science. But critics say his past comments and recent actions, such as the canceling of mRNA shot development, suggest otherwise.

The hearing comes less than a month after a gunman who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine fired hundreds of shots at the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta, killing a responding police officer. This week, the CDC ordered employees to return to work by Sept. 15. Thursday, senator Jon Ossoff echoed calls for Kennedy to resign.

“The destruction of the CDC in Georgia, the systematic dismantling of American public health is putting children and families across the country at risk every single day,” Ossoff said. “This is chaos.”

Kennedy defended the administration’s actions during the three-hour hearing and vowed to press ahead. Warnock says so will the opposition.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring sanity to this process,” Warnock said. “Because this is a threat not only to our health, it is a threat to the national security of the United States.”