Congress Questions Kennedy and Vought on Policy Agendas as Pentagon Reports Iran Blockade Developments

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought faced extensive questioning from House lawmakers Thursday on healthcare policy and federal spending priorities, while Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine simultaneously briefed Congress on escalating naval operations near the Strait of Hormuz. Caine reported that 13 vessels have reversed course at a U.S. blockade as the military confrontation with Iran approaches its seventh week.

Kennedy’s appearance before Ways and Means marked one of his most substantive exchanges with lawmakers since taking the helm at HHS. The committee pressed him on proposed reorganizations within the department, his stated priorities surrounding chronic disease, food additives, and pharmaceutical oversight, and the administration’s budget blueprint for Medicare, Medicaid, and public health programs. Vought, a returning figure from the first Trump administration and a principal architect of Project 2025’s fiscal chapters, defended broader spending reductions and restructuring of federal health agencies, including proposed consolidations at the CDC, NIH, and FDA.

The hearing unfolded against a backdrop of intensifying military activity in the Persian Gulf. Gen. Caine, confirmed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs earlier this year after the dismissal of Gen. C.Q. Brown, delivered what lawmakers described as a detailed operational picture of the blockade. The Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile-wide chokepoint between Iran and Oman, has historically been one of the most strategically sensitive maritime corridors in the world. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, has long maintained a forward presence there, but the establishment of an active blockade marks a significant escalation from routine freedom-of-navigation operations.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have begun signaling concerns about the duration and scope of the Iran operation, with some members calling for a formal vote on an Authorization for Use of Military Force. Meanwhile, Kennedy’s agenda at HHS continues to draw scrutiny, particularly regarding vaccine advisory committee restructuring and shifts in federal research funding. The simultaneous hearings underscore the extraordinary breadth of policy fronts currently demanding congressional attention, from domestic healthcare architecture to active combat operations abroad.