Democrats Press RFK Jr. on Trump’s Mental Fitness in Heated Budget Hearing

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced nearly three hours of pointed questioning from House Democrats on Friday during a budget hearing that veered repeatedly into questions about President Donald Trump’s mental acuity, vaccine policy, and recent controversial social media activity. Representative Mark Takano of California led the charge, pressing Kennedy on whether he would support invoking the 25th Amendment or requiring the president to undergo a cognitive evaluation.

The hearing, ostensibly convened to examine the Department of Health and Human Services’ fiscal 2026 budget request, quickly expanded into a broader referendum on the Trump administration’s health agenda and the president’s conduct in office. Takano and fellow Democrats repeatedly returned to a series of posts Trump has published on Truth Social in recent weeks, which they characterized as erratic and asked Kennedy — a physician’s nephew, environmental lawyer, and longtime public health critic — to evaluate. Kennedy, who does not hold a medical degree, deflected most of those queries, saying he was not in a position to render clinical judgments about the president and affirming his confidence in Trump’s leadership.

The exchanges underscored a deeper political conflict over Kennedy’s tenure at HHS, which has been marked by the dismissal of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June, revised federal guidance questioning the safety of acetaminophen use during pregnancy, and proposed restructuring of the National Institutes of Health. Democrats on the panel argued that Kennedy’s policy decisions have departed from established scientific consensus, pointing to statements linking childhood vaccines and Tylenol to autism — claims the broader medical community has repeatedly rejected. Republican members largely defended Kennedy, emphasizing what they described as long-overdue scrutiny of federal health agencies and chronic disease trends.

Kennedy is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill multiple times this fall as Congress continues its appropriations work and as Senate committees consider HHS nominees and rule changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Democrats have signaled they will continue to press the secretary on both scientific policy and the broader question of executive branch oversight, while the White House has dismissed calls for any presidential fitness evaluation as partisan theatrics. The coming weeks are expected to bring additional hearings on vaccine schedules, Medicaid funding, and reproductive health regulations.

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