Topline
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he doesn’t know how many people died of COVID-19, blaming the Biden administration for keeping what he said is faulty data—though the World Health Organization tracks the global tally in real-time on its website.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Kennedy told Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. in a contentious Senate hearing Thursday, “I don’t know how many died,” alleging “I don’t think anybody knows, because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC . . . I would like to see the data and talk about the data,” calling the Biden administration’s statistics “dismal.”
The World Health Organization, however, publishes data on its website in real-time tracking both the global and national death tolls, with figures showing 7.1 million reported deaths globally and 1.2 million in the U.S.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year instructing the CDC to stop working with the WHO, a United Nations Agency, accusing it of “mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Kennedy renewed his criticism of the CDC during Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, telling lawmakers “we are the sickest country in the world, that’s why we have to fire people at the CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy,” referring to the termination of CDC director Susan Monarez earlier this month that led to resignations of several top officials.
Kennedy engaged in several tense disputes during the hearing, including with Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy, La., and John Barrasso, Wyo., who are both physicians, with Cassidy telling Kennedy the federal government was “effectively” denying people vaccines as some pharmacies have limited access amid confusion surrounding new health regulations.
Barrasso, meanwhile, said he has grown “deeply concerned” since Kennedy’s confirmation hearing, where, Barrasso reminded Kennedy, he “promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines.”
Tangent
Kennedy denied claims made by Monarez in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published shortly before his hearing began that he pressured her to pre-approve vaccine recommendations made by an advisory panel Kennedy controversially replaced with some members who have publicly expressed doubts about the efficacy of some widely accredited vaccines. “I did not say that to her, and I never had a private meeting with her,” he told senators.
Key Background
Kennedy’s hearing comes amid heightened scrutiny of his controversial public statements expressing skepticism of vaccines and his handling of federal vaccine guidelines that ultimately led to Monarez’s termination and the resignations of several high-ranking CDC officials last month. At the same time, COVID cases are on the rise and tightened vaccine guidelines under Kennedy have led some pharmacies to drastically curb vaccine availability. The CDC’s chief medical officer Debra Houry, along with director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Daniel Jernigan, and director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Demetre Daskalakis resigned following Monarez’s firing, with all three citing concerns surrounding the agency’s handling of vaccines. The shakeup led some Republicans, including Cassidy and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to publicly express concerns about the exodus, with Collins warning the officials “will not be easily replaceable” and “are respected worldwide.”
Further Reading
Trump Facing GOP Criticism On Vaccines As They’re Harder To Get—And Covid Resurges (Forbes)
CDC Turmoil: White House Reportedly Taps New Director Amid Staffer Walkout (Forbes)
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Sara Dorn