September 04, 2025 01:42 PM UTC

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the First Big Crack in Trump's MAGA Dam

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• by: Colorado Pols

It would be nearly impossible to list all of the different ways that President Trump has critically damaged the United States — not just now, but for years to come. Assuming that this country still exists in a few years, we may well look back on this week as a tipping point for the Trump administration.

The unraveling is underway thanks to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Americans start paying more attention to politics when policies began to impact their own daily lives, and that’s exactly what is happening now with unvaccinated kids returning to school ahead of the next flu season. Concerns about RFK Jr have grown quickly as he tries to make the COVID vaccine harder to access. Last week, RFK inexplicably fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after less than a month on the job because she refused to sign on to his senseless obsession with prohibiting vaccinations for COVID (Monarez authored an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal today alleging that RFK Jr is trying to weaken public health protections).

The firing of Monarez was followed by the resignation of several top CDC officials, leaving a critical public health agency in tatters just seven months into Trump’s second term in office. Even traditional right-wing puppets such as Erick Erickson are up in arms over RFK’s “health” policies:

On Thursday, RFK Jr appeared on Capitol Hill in front of the Senate Finance Committee and was relentlessly hammered by Democrats and Republicans alike for his dismantling of public health programs. Unable or unwilling to acknowledge the problems he has created, RFK Jr doubled down on criticisms of the CDC — including hints that he might fire more people — despite a quickly-growing consensus that the HHS Secretary is out of control. Multiple Senators called on RFK Jr to resign from HHS, and Senators from both sides of the political aisle took turns questioning RFK Jr’s logic.

Barrasso: In your confirmation hearing, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned. The public has seen measles outbreaks. Leadership in the national institute of health questioning the use of mrna vaccines… pic.twitter.com/xuFFYOPUMO

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 4, 2025

Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso — an actual doctor — is among the Republicans losing faith in RFK Jr:

BARRASSO: In your confirmation hearing, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned. The public has seen measles outbreaks. Leadership in the national institute of health questioning the use of mrna vaccines…

As POLITICO reports, Barrasso is not the only Republican Senator who appears to have had enough of RFK Jr’s pseudo-science:

Republican support for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Capitol Hill is starting to waver.

Most Republicans on the Finance Committee had Kennedy’s back during his first appearance in the Senate since he cut funding for mRNA vaccines, restricted access to Covid shots and fired his CDC director, but the number of critics is growing.

In addition to Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, who’s sparred with Kennedy since voting to confirm him in February, John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, took issue with Kennedy’s leadership… [Pols emphasis]

…Both Cassidy and Tillis pointed out Trump’s role in developing the Covid vaccines that Kennedy has in the past disparaged — Kennedy once said they were the “deadliest vaccine ever made” — and has now made more difficult for young, healthy people to get. They now need a prescription from a doctor in some states.

This last part has left states scrambling to figure out their own health care guidance. On Wednesday — the same day that Florida announced it would become the first state in the country to eliminate all vaccination requirements for children (a decision expected to be catastrophic to public health) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced that Dr. Ned Calonge, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, had issued a “standing order” allowing anyone six months or older to receive the updated COVID-19 vaccines at a pharmacy starting Friday.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis expressed concern about this process during RFK Jr’s appearance:

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he’s “concerned” with some of Kennedy’s actions in recent weeks and “that we’re diminishing the credibility of the CDC.”

“I want to know if it’s being managed properly. Are we really relying on science?” he asked.

He also expressed concern that actions like Florida’s recent move to end vaccine mandates in schools will “send a shock wave through communities that simply don’t have the resources to do anything more.”

He added, “Those folks are going to see this thing and say, ‘Vaccines are bad. I’m not going to vaccinate my kids.’ They’re not going to go to their doctor, because many of them don’t have access to it. They may not even go on the web. I don’t even know if they have access, they’re not going to do the research. So these kids get harmed by this.”

Of course, Democrats also teed off on RFK Jr — including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver), who got into a shouting match with the HHS Secretary:

Nobody should be surprised that RFK Jr was lying about his beliefs and his intentions when he was testifying during his confirmation hearings earlier this year. The question was whether Republicans were going to just let those lies stand.

Congressional Republicans may not yet be willing to directly oppose President Trump, but if they can find enough of a spine to put a stop to the devastating leadership of RFK Jr, then perhaps reality can finally start to come out to play.