A Democratic lawmaker in the House says she has officially introduced articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., even though the effort is unlikely to advance in a Congress controlled by Republicans.
“RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people,” Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan said in a statement posted to X, announcing her move to impeach the health secretary.
With Republicans holding majorities in both the House and the Senate, any impeachment drive against Kennedy is expected to face long odds.
Kennedy is not the only member of the administration facing such calls. On Monday, Texas Democrat Al Green told Congress he was “moving to bring impeachment again” against President Donald Trump. He said the reasons for his new push would become clear when the articles are filed, but cited in part Trump’s alleged refusal to respect the separation of powers, including his attacks on House members who disagree with him.
Green previously filed articles of impeachment against Trump in May, arguing at the time that the president was “unfit to be president.”
Kennedy, who took over as HHS secretary in February, has drawn intense scrutiny for a series of high-profile decisions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency within HHS, laid off 600 employees in August. The following month, the White House removed CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez and replaced her with Kennedy’s deputy, Jim O’Neill, prompting sharp criticism from health officials and members of Congress.
Kennedy, who once led an anti-vaccine organization and campaigned on ending vaccine mandates, further angered public health experts by cancelling $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine programs.
In September, he appeared before the Senate Finance Committee to defend his policies.
After that hearing, Trump praised him, calling Kennedy “a very good person” who “means very well” and describing him as a “different” thinker.
“It’s not your standard talk. I would say that, and that has to do with medical and vaccines,” Trump said. “But if you look at what’s going on in the world with health, and look at this country also with regard to health—I like the fact that he’s different.”
Stevens had already signaled in September that she intended to pursue impeachment. At the time, she argued that Kennedy was making the country less safe and driving up healthcare costs while limiting access for her constituents in Michigan. She accused him of showing “contempt for science,” spreading conspiracy theories and disregarding the work of leading medical experts, calling his conduct “unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous.”
She said the country needs leaders who prioritize “science over chaos, facts over lies, and people over politics,” and announced then that she had begun drafting articles of impeachment against the secretary.
