A Michigan Democrat has decided to take a symbolic swing at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., filing impeachment papers that have about as much chance of succeeding as a snowball tossed into a July heatwave. Rep. Haley Stevens announced her grand gesture on X, declaring that “RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people.” It is quite something to watch a lawmaker insist this is about science while pretending the Republican controlled Congress is going to remove a Cabinet official who actually reflects the administration’s direction on health policy.
Kennedy has been shaking up the health bureaucracy ever since he stepped into the HHS post in February. That alone is enough to send Washington’s entrenched public health insiders into panic mode. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut 600 employees in August, and the White House replaced CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez with Kennedy’s deputy, Jim O’Neill. The old guard wailed, mostly because they were fond of the comfortable system they built and never expected to see anyone question it.
Then came Kennedy’s decision to cut $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccines. The public health establishment reacted like someone had unplugged their espresso machine. Kennedy has always been skeptical of vaccine mandates, and Washington’s bureaucratic class absolutely hates when someone disrupts their sacred consensus. He was even dragged before the Senate Finance Committee in September to explain why he dared to push policies that did not rubber stamp their preferences.
President Trump had a very different reaction. After the hearing, he described Kennedy as “a very good person” who “means very well” and is a “different” thinker. The president added, “It’s not your standard talk. I would say that, and that has to do with medical and vaccines.” He also pointed out that with everything happening in the world of health policy, he appreciates someone who is willing to challenge the stale playbook in Washington.
Meanwhile, Democrats are turning impeachment into their favorite campaign hobby. Rep. Al Green is back at it, telling colleagues he is “moving to bring impeachment again” against President Trump, hinting it has something to do with the president supposedly not respecting the separation of powers. He tried this in May too, claiming Trump was “unfit to be president.” Apparently nothing energizes certain Democrats like filing impeachment paperwork that has no path to success.
Stevens insists her effort against Kennedy is about protecting Americans, saying he is making the country less safe and healthcare less affordable. She accused him of “contempt for science” and spreading conspiracy theories. That is quite a line coming from a Congress that spent years cheering along every bureaucratic misstep during the pandemic.
Neither HHS nor Stevens offered further comment, probably because everyone already knows this is political theater dressed up as concern.
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