Savages in the Senate: Kennedy ambushed in a game of dirty politics

Senators branded him a “charlatan” and shouted him down. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fought back, defending his advisers and his right to purge CDC staff in the name of ending politicised science.

Last Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr entered the Senate Finance Committee hearing knowing what to expect. Democrats had declared war before he’d even sat down.

On the eve of his testimony, they issued a “report card” cataloguing every alleged misstep during his 203 days as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

From his shake-up at the CDC to the fact that he once wore jeans on a hike in the blazing Arizona sun — supposedly defying CDC advice to “wear loose, lightweight clothing” in extreme heat — nothing was too trivial to mention.

And, if that wasn’t enough, more than a thousand current and former HHS employees had signed a petition demanding his resignation.

For just under three hours, senators from both parties shouted, interrupted, hurled insults and staged “gotcha” moments… it was an ambush.