“RFK Jr. should be fired immediately,” said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in a Monday X post regarding Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Warnock’s post also included a clip from CNN referencing measles cases in the U.S. Though measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, cases shot up last year to a record not seen since 1991, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Audacy reported that health officials were concerned about “rapidly increasing cases of measles spreading around the world,” back in April 2024 and the possibility that the U.S. was on “the cusp of another massive outbreak like we experienced in 2019.”
Then came an outbreak in a Texas Mennonite community. By the end of last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 48 outbreaks from measles, 2,288 cases and three deaths from the illness.
“Less than four months into 2026, cases in the U.S. are already nearing last year’s toll,” the Bloomberg School of Public Health noted. As of last week, the CDC was reporting 1,792 confirmed measles cases and 22 new outbreaks in the U.S. so far this year.
Measles is a highly contagious viral respiratory infection that also includes a telltale rash. People with the illness can develop a fever, runny nose, and red eyes.
While testifying before lawmakers last week, Kennedy stressed that the uptick in U.S. measles cases began before he was sworn in as HHS secretary last February. Still, Kennedy is known for his skepticism of vaccines and some have criticized his response to the measles spike. He has notably removed an entire vaccine advisory committee and changed guidelines published by the CDC to say “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim,” since he became health secretary.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics, among other medical groups, sued to stop the implementation of Kennedy’s new childhood vaccine schedule,” said The Independent this week of Kennedy’s attempts to change vaccine policy in the U.S. “In March, a federal judge reversed many of the changes to vaccine recommendations.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor who butted heads with Kennedy over vaccines during the latter’s confirmation hearings, asked Kennedy about falling measles vaccination rates last week during the health secretary’s testimony. According to the CDC, “vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners has decreased from 95.2% during the 2019–2020 school year to 92.5% in the 2024–2025 school year, leaving approximately 286,000 kindergartners at risk during the 2024–2025 school year.”
In response to Cassidy’s questions, Kennedy said: “We know how to control the outbreaks.”
In the clip Warnock shared, CNN said that experts have linked falling vaccination rates with the rise of measles cases in the U.S. Per the CDC, the measles mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is “very safe and effective.”
“I think you’re dangerous to the American public,” Warnock told Kennedy during the testimony last week. “You ought to be fired. “And, if you’re not fired, you ought to have the decency to resign.”
Sen. Lisa Blunt (D-Del.) told Kennedy “the people don’t trust you,” citing polls. She also questioned whether Kennedy has given President Donald Trump appropriate guidance regarding the measles outbreaks and the U.S. potentially losing its measles elimination status.
Calls to remove Kennedy are not new. U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called for him to be fired last August over what she called “his personal mission to destroy public health,” and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) called for him to be fired around the same time. Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens announced last September that she was drafting articles of impeachment against Kennedy.
“Any time children are dying from vaccine-preventable diseases [or] we have an increased incidence of reports, whatever the disease is, there should be focus,” Cassidy said of the measles situation, according to CNN. “We are a first-world country, and speaking as a physician that knows this can be prevented, it grieves me. It grieves me.”
Meanwhile, the outlet reported that Kennedy said “every Democrat in this committee, all they wanted to do was talk about measles.”
